I have seen it written a number of times that dends like tight shoes. If
this is correct, what do you think of the notion of putting two into one
pot. I have half a dozen dends that are due for repotting which I bought
planted two to a pot, even though the pot itself looks to me to be too big
for the pair. They are in 20 cm pots, but I think the root balls would
easily fit in 15 cm pots with room to spare even if there are two plants per
pot. The alternative is to use twice as many much smaller pots, which may
be a nuisance.

Cheers,

Ted

I heard the same story about "tight shoes", but when I was in Hawaii and
visited Kauai Orchids, they showed me dendrobiums planted in the "dirt"
outside the greenhouse. He told me it was a myth. I can only vouch for
what I saw, though.

Paul
"Ted Byers" wrote in message
...
I have seen it written a number of times that dends like tight shoes. If
this is correct, what do you think of the notion of putting two into one
pot. I have half a dozen dends that are due for repotting which I bought
planted two to a pot, even though the pot itself looks to me to be too big
for the pair. They are in 20 cm pots, but I think the root balls would
easily fit in 15 cm pots with room to spare even if there are two plants
per
pot. The alternative is to use twice as many much smaller pots, which may
be a nuisance.

Cheers,

Ted

Ted,

Dends seem to do best when underpotted, but there are limits, after all.
Recently I repotted several large, rangy Dends with root balls that were not
going to tolerate anything less than 8" pots, even after substantial
trimming.

Are you positive that there were two distinct plants in the pots that you
bought? Sometimes, when you take a plant out of its pot, it will seem to
separate quite naturally, making it look like more than one plant.

As far as potting more than one plant in a pot, it helps to know what your
goals are. If you intend to show the plants at some future time, then it's
not a good idea; keep them separate. Also, if you put two together, if one
gets a fatal bug of some kind you're likely to lose both instead of just the
original offender. Then there's the issue of bloom cycles, etc.

Personally I'd opt for the smaller pots and keep the plants apart.

Diana