I've been growing orchids for 35 years or so, and I still don't know if I
"get it right" sometimes, either!

I'm not sure what you're meaning when you say you want something to "buffer
the roots". A plant in nature has its root system generally hanging out in
the same conditions and exposure as the rest of the plant.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies. Books, Artwork, and lots of Free Info!


"Nancy G." wrote in message
ups.com...
I'm dealing with 2 extremes. The winter has turned out to be better
this year. Heaters keep the minimum at 60 F, the room keeps the
humidity at 65% to 75% humidity. Fans (tower type) are at opposite
ends of the room (roughly 20 ' apart). One is set on a table and
forces air at 5 to 7' level, the other on the floor at between knee and
waist level. It seems to break up the thermal layering and keep the
air movement okay except in the opposite corner behind the fan. They
are on 24 and 7. During the autumn and spring windows and doors may be
openned as light and temperature dictate, but the fans remain. It's
much easier to water when needed. Walk through and decide. Too
cloudy, late,cool, not today. As said before, hasn't needed much water
for any of them, little more for the paphs, phals, and phrags.

The past two summers have been brutal. The orchids were outside. The
catts partially shaded by trees, but the temps were in the 100's. It
was also regionally dry, so natural humidity was low from Missouri
norms. I had sprinklers on timers for 2X a day. Early morning, early
evening. Any feeding and spraying was mid afternoon after the tables
were shaded, would override the program and sprinkle before feeding,
about 3 hours before the evening sprinkler. The sunnier end of the
zone would get dry, the shadier end would stay wet in plastic. The
mounts, baskets, and clay pots (only have 6 in clay now) were in the
shady area.

I'm looking for a way to buffer the roots from the elements (mostly
summer). Ammending the mix is no problem. Currently in 4 parts medium
CHC, 1 part #4 perlite, 1 part coarse charcoal. Easy enough to shift
to a 3-2-1 or 2-2-1, or use black lava in the place of perlite (it
isn't much larger) or some other aggregate. I can perforate the liner
and intend on washing it anyway to help loosen the bonding agent that
was used in the manufacture. Right now time is in my favor. I don't
have to commit to all 30 baskets either, try a few and see how it
works.

I've got some phals, phrags, and some other misc in PA S/H. Some love
it, some are so-so, some are going crazy with aerial roots. I probably
haven't gotten it right yet. Should make a list, take pictures, and
ask you. Then again, maybe there is just no good way under the
extremes I'm trying to grow under. Too cold, too hot, hard water, you
name it. Usually I flush with rainwater, last summer, no rain.
Artificial plants and cacti were dieing. The rainwater collected was
used exclusively on Paphs and phrags, and I still ran out. Carried
water from the lake for them in 5 gallon buckets. When it finally
rained, everything perked up considerably. Cooler, wetter, cleaner.

I started in ignorance with orchids 8 years ago. Now I don't know
whether I'm still ignorant, stupid, or crazy. Sometimes in spite of me
they bloom and I do know that I still get a rush when that happens. I
may need to break out some cheese to go with this w(h)ine.

Thanks, Nancy

Ray B wrote:
A few thoughts from me, as well:

Planting in those coco fiber-lined baskets is no issue, except for the
rolly-polly nature of the baskets if used on a bench, as you've pointed
out.
I suggest potting your plants in them, rather than on the outside.
They'll
ultimately get there anyway...

The rest of your comments/questions and both Diana's and Al's responses
all
seem to be related to "air management", and we need to think of the
combination of medium, pot, and water when potting plants up. Water,
itself, does not cause root rot - suffocation does - but it can lead to
clogged air passageways as the medium swells upon wetting or simply as
bridging water droplets between the particles, which is more of an issue
with dense media, whether that be from the particle sizes used of as it
gets
more compact over time.

If CHC/perlite/charcoal in plastic seems to be too suffocating for the
plants' roots, you can do something as simple as watering less often,
switching to clay pots, which dry faster, and/or my preferred
methodology,
follow Diana's lead of modifying the mix so it stays more open and holds
less moisture to begin with. That could be using coarser particles,
fewer
or different components, or in a different set of proportions.

The coco "pot" will be more porous than clay, which is more porous than
plastic, so that's one set of controls you have, but still think of the
overall package of pot + medium + water as the set of variables to play
with.

Oh yeah... Assuming you hang those baskets, rather than setting them in
the
mouth of a large pot to keep them on the bench, you will be dealing with
more air flow around the pot, which again improves the gas exchange
within
the medium, and if they're in the turbulence of circulator fans, it's
even
greater.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies. Books, Artwork, and lots of Free Info!


"Nancy G." wrote in message
ups.com...
Planning the attack on transplanting and dividing. It's been 2 to 3
years for most of them. They were divided into 6" pots, planted into a
CHC, perlite, and charcoal mix. It's gotten to the point of moving
them up or dividing and staying in the same sized pot.

Has anyone planted in a hanging style wilre basket lined with coco-mat?
Has it worked for you? Would it be better to plant in them or mount
the plant on the outside? I have one that is growing on a bare
cocoliner. Stupid I know, but it was failing in a regular plastic pot.
I put it on the cushion before any more roots could die, they grew to
the the thing while waiting to replant in something that I thought
they'd like.

I have 30 of the 12" welded and dipped baskets with mats. They were on
clearance last fall. I bought them with my larger catts in mind. That
is almost enough to drop on my most aggressive growers. Now I'm not
sure.

I will have to make some mods to my area due to the larger size. Some
will hang, either tilted or flat, some will go back on the bench with a
ring under to keep them from rolling. The bottoms are round, not flat.
Now that's a picture, a bunch of orchids set on little do-nuts or
whoopie cushions so they don't roll around on the bench.

I just thought that the catts that like more drainage or air around the
roots would benefit. I don't know whether the CHC has stayed a little
too wet or they don't like plastic, but the roots haven't gotten and
stayed really mongo until they go over the edge of the pots, or in a
couple of cases the pots blew over spilling abut half the mx. The
humidity in my growing area is high, maybe a little too high. I think
I've only really watered in there 3 or 4 times in 2 months. Nothing
seems to be shrivelling. Roots are growing and the new pseudo bulbs
are starting, just separating from the rhizome to about 3" tall. I
guess I have about a month to decide, but want to have the job done in
March. Probably will be time to start feeding by then, if not sooner.

Oh well, just a couple of questions and thoughts.

Nancy