As pots get bigger they also get taller. Is this necessary? Big plants
I have repotted seem to have most of their roots within a few inches of
the surface. I have a 30 growth CATT and will repot soon, would a large
short, say 10 inch tall by 18 inch wide, pot be OK? I will use S/H and
the shorter pot would give better O2 at the roots it seems, and, Ray
may not have enough rocks to fill the tall one! ;-)). The clay pot is a
monster to deal with. It is tippy, heavy and I am betting there are few
roots that penetrate to the bottom, and, this is a TALL plant. What do
you think? If, when I dump it out,there are roots at the bottom I'll go
back into the same pot.
Joe T
Baytown/Houston

No it's not necessary. Look for the ones labelled "azalea pots" which have a
much lower form (not as deep). For shallower ones than that look for bulb
pans. For a catt that size a 18-20" wire basket w/ or w/o a liner would
narrow the bottom also. Another thing to do if you can't find or don't want
to do any of the above is simply to insert a number of inverted 3" plastic
pots in the bottom of your large pot to take up the extra space and give
excellent drainage. I love specimen plants but there's only so much room in
a greenhouse, no matter how big you make it, so you have to pick & choose
which go on and which get redivided.
Gary

"jtill" wrote in message
ps.com...
As pots get bigger they also get taller. Is this necessary? Big plants
I have repotted seem to have most of their roots within a few inches of
the surface. I have a 30 growth CATT and will repot soon, would a large
short, say 10 inch tall by 18 inch wide, pot be OK? I will use S/H and
the shorter pot would give better O2 at the roots it seems, and, Ray
may not have enough rocks to fill the tall one! ;-)). The clay pot is a
monster to deal with. It is tippy, heavy and I am betting there are few
roots that penetrate to the bottom, and, this is a TALL plant. What do
you think? If, when I dump it out,there are roots at the bottom I'll go
back into the same pot.
Joe T
Baytown/Houston

V_coerulea wrote:
No it's not necessary. Look for the ones labelled "azalea pots" which have a
much lower form (not as deep). For shallower ones than that look for bulb
pans. For a catt that size a 18-20" wire basket w/ or w/o a liner would
narrow the bottom also. Another thing to do if you can't find or don't want
to do any of the above is simply to insert a number of inverted 3" plastic
pots in the bottom of your large pot to take up the extra space and give
excellent drainage. I love specimen plants but there's only so much room in
a greenhouse, no matter how big you make it, so you have to pick & choose
which go on and which get redivided.
Gary

"jtill" wrote in message
ps.com...
As pots get bigger they also get taller. Is this necessary? Big plants
I have repotted seem to have most of their roots within a few inches of
the surface. I have a 30 growth CATT and will repot soon, would a large
short, say 10 inch tall by 18 inch wide, pot be OK? I will use S/H and
the shorter pot would give better O2 at the roots it seems, and, Ray
may not have enough rocks to fill the tall one! ;-)). The clay pot is a
monster to deal with. It is tippy, heavy and I am betting there are few
roots that penetrate to the bottom, and, this is a TALL plant. What do
you think? If, when I dump it out,there are roots at the bottom I'll go
back into the same pot.
Joe T
Baytown/Houston


Thanks for that, EXACTLY what I need! I plan to only have a small
collection, and, they are going to be honkers! I am about to the point
where it will be one in one out.
Check this to see what you put me on to. They make big ones for
reasonable price and ship. Will let you know if I kill anything.
www.doorpottery.com/ ls_bulbpans.asp
Again, Thanks
Joe T
Third Coast
The biggies are;
Blc. Mememoria Helen Brown 'Tash-Ing'(sp?)
Lc. Molly Tyler 'Black Diamond'

I plan to only have a small collection, and, they are going to be honkers!
I am about to the point
where it will be one in one out.

Bwahahahahaha! "I plan to only have a small collection".......ROFLMAO!!!!!

Joe, you cockeyed optimist, you!

Diana

Joe,

They have some nice looking pots but it looks like they are all glazed. That
is generally a no no with orchids because they don't dry out fast enough.
Maybe you can order some that way from them. You should check also to see if
they have drainage holes in them.

Bob

"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
.. .
I plan to only have a small collection, and, they are going to be
honkers! I am about to the point
where it will be one in one out.

Bwahahahahaha! "I plan to only have a small
collection".......ROFLMAO!!!!!

Joe, you cockeyed optimist, you!

Diana

On Thu, 29 Jun 2006 16:35:28 -0500, "Bob Walsh"
wrote:

Joe,

They have some nice looking pots but it looks like they are all glazed. That
is generally a no no with orchids because they don't dry out fast enough.
Maybe you can order some that way from them. You should check also to see if
they have drainage holes in them.

Bob

This is my concern too. Cactus gardens and Bulb pans can be made to
hold water to use in displays in the house. Bulbs are often forced in
glazed or glass containers. The bulb pans and azalea pots suggested
were raw pottery such as you might find in Mexican pottey or a
nursery's stock.

On 29 Jun 2006 10:13:26 -0700, "jtill" wrote:

As pots get bigger they also get taller. Is this necessary? Big plants
I have repotted seem to have most of their roots within a few inches of
the surface. I have a 30 growth CATT and will repot soon, would a large
short, say 10 inch tall by 18 inch wide, pot be OK? I will use S/H and
the shorter pot would give better O2 at the roots it seems, and, Ray
may not have enough rocks to fill the tall one! ;-)). The clay pot is a
monster to deal with. It is tippy, heavy and I am betting there are few
roots that penetrate to the bottom, and, this is a TALL plant. What do
you think? If, when I dump it out,there are roots at the bottom I'll go
back into the same pot.
Joe T
Baytown/Houston

Now Clay and S/H don't go together well. Normally S/H means you use a
tall for it's width container with room for the roots to roam and for
a water well below the roots to keep the clay pellets carrying
moisture. Are you sure you mean S/H? Clay pellets can be used
instead of mix - but now your talking a lot of weight especially in a
clay pot.

I glad I could help. Please return the favor and let us all know your
secret of limiting an orchid collection's size. I always thought it was one
of the unwritten laws of nature that orchid collections will grow
exponentially until you run out of money, credit, or can't force Rob's rules
any further. By the way, if your stick to your plan, let me know when you're
about to force one out to make room for the next. My will power is not as
strong as yours. :)
Gary

"jtill" wrote in message
ups.com...

V_coerulea wrote:
No it's not necessary. Look for the ones labelled "azalea pots" which
have a
much lower form (not as deep). For shallower ones than that look for bulb
pans. For a catt that size a 18-20" wire basket w/ or w/o a liner would
narrow the bottom also. Another thing to do if you can't find or don't
want
to do any of the above is simply to insert a number of inverted 3"
plastic
pots in the bottom of your large pot to take up the extra space and give
excellent drainage. I love specimen plants but there's only so much room
in
a greenhouse, no matter how big you make it, so you have to pick & choose
which go on and which get redivided.
Gary

"jtill" wrote in message
ps.com...
As pots get bigger they also get taller. Is this necessary? Big plants
I have repotted seem to have most of their roots within a few inches of
the surface. I have a 30 growth CATT and will repot soon, would a large
short, say 10 inch tall by 18 inch wide, pot be OK? I will use S/H and
the shorter pot would give better O2 at the roots it seems, and, Ray
may not have enough rocks to fill the tall one! ;-)). The clay pot is a
monster to deal with. It is tippy, heavy and I am betting there are few
roots that penetrate to the bottom, and, this is a TALL plant. What do
you think? If, when I dump it out,there are roots at the bottom I'll go
back into the same pot.
Joe T
Baytown/Houston


Thanks for that, EXACTLY what I need! I plan to only have a small
collection, and, they are going to be honkers! I am about to the point
where it will be one in one out.
Check this to see what you put me on to. They make big ones for
reasonable price and ship. Will let you know if I kill anything.
www.doorpottery.com/ ls_bulbpans.asp
Again, Thanks
Joe T
Third Coast
The biggies are;
Blc. Mememoria Helen Brown 'Tash-Ing'(sp?)
Lc. Molly Tyler 'Black Diamond'

Susan Erickson wrote:
On 29 Jun 2006 10:13:26 -0700, "jtill" wrote:

As pots get bigger they also get taller. Is this necessary? Big plants
I have repotted seem to have most of their roots within a few inches of
the surface. I have a 30 growth CATT and will repot soon, would a large
short, say 10 inch tall by 18 inch wide, pot be OK? I will use S/H and
the shorter pot would give better O2 at the roots it seems, and, Ray
may not have enough rocks to fill the tall one! ;-)). The clay pot is a
monster to deal with. It is tippy, heavy and I am betting there are few
roots that penetrate to the bottom, and, this is a TALL plant. What do
you think? If, when I dump it out,there are roots at the bottom I'll go
back into the same pot.
Joe T
Baytown/Houston

Now Clay and S/H don't go together well. Normally S/H means you use a
tall for it's width container with room for the roots to roam and for
a water well below the roots to keep the clay pellets carrying
moisture. Are you sure you mean S/H? Clay pellets can be used
instead of mix - but now your talking a lot of weight especially in a
clay pot.

I cannot get a S/H pot big enough. I have a plastic dishpan ready to
drill and pot in that but it looks like a dishpan. So Bob suggested a
bulb pan (Glazed) and that looks good to me. So I found a pretty one
and plan to drill it for S/H and plug the bottom hole. My question is,
will a 16" W X 10" D work? Dry out to fast? Other problems? Big plants
that I have re-potted, two, had short roots, about 6", most stopped at
4". Normal? I don't have enough experience to know. So I am close to
trying it. Diana is having a laughing fit over SOME of my plan! And, I
am having fun sharing my (mis) adventures with you guys! Hey, I tried
unglazed clay with PrimeAgra early on and that doesn't work at all.
Glazed works like Ray's pots plastic, the holes are tough to drill but
you get the same result. But if you use the same aspect ratio a 16" pot
would be about 20" deep. So I am going to try 16X10 and see if the
plant will adapt. One plant I bought was in an 8"W x 6" D clay with no
saucer. It has 27 pbulbs! In a regular 14" flower pot you wouldn't have
to bend over to smell it. That is is the Blc Helen Brown. Folk do not
talk much about big plants nor have pots and such for them. Funny thing
is, you pay 25-40 bucks for a NBS plant and a year later get one bloom.
For two times that, or maybe three ;-)), you can get 20 to 30 pbulbs
and a ton of blooms next time round.
Joe T

On 29 Jun 2006 16:52:03 -0700, "jtill" wrote:
I cannot get a S/H pot big enough. I have a plastic dishpan ready to
drill and pot in that but it looks like a dishpan. So Bob suggested a
bulb pan (Glazed) and that looks good to me. So I found a pretty one
and plan to drill it for S/H and plug the bottom hole. My question is,
will a 16" W X 10" D work? Dry out to fast? Other problems? Big plants
that I have re-potted, two, had short roots, about 6", most stopped at
4". Normal? I don't have enough experience to know. So I am close to
trying it. Diana is having a laughing fit over SOME of my plan! And, I
am having fun sharing my (mis) adventures with you guys! Hey, I tried
unglazed clay with PrimeAgra early on and that doesn't work at all.
Glazed works like Ray's pots plastic, the holes are tough to drill but
you get the same result. But if you use the same aspect ratio a 16" pot
would be about 20" deep. So I am going to try 16X10 and see if the
plant will adapt. One plant I bought was in an 8"W x 6" D clay with no
saucer. It has 27 pbulbs! In a regular 14" flower pot you wouldn't have
to bend over to smell it. That is is the Blc Helen Brown. Folk do not
talk much about big plants nor have pots and such for them. Funny thing
is, you pay 25-40 bucks for a NBS plant and a year later get one bloom.
For two times that, or maybe three ;-)), you can get 20 to 30 pbulbs
and a ton of blooms next time round.
Joe T

Our big S/H pots are full of Cym and Phrags. They grow roots.
I have an old standard that grows about 20-24 inches tall. I pot it
in a tree pot from a nursery. But I hang it and don't try the S/H.
I have a zygo that pushes out of a nursery tree pot every year. The
bottom is almost open on that one. But the sidewalls and roots hold
the moss and it just loves it's pot in the sun. G

Now Joe you do have to post photos to ABPO. We want to see how this
all comes out.

jtill wrote:
Big plants
that I have re-potted, two, had short roots, about 6", most stopped at
4". Normal?

Probably not normal. That sounds like a cultural problem, possibly
decomposed media, too wet, and/or insufficient oxygen in the pot. A
large well established Cattleya (and most other orchids) should have
long, branching roots penetrating all the way to the bottom of the pot.
Failure of the roots to penetrate the media suggests that the plant
wasn't very happy and may prefer different media mounting. I've
occasionally received plants with very short roots from nurseries that
don't repot frequently enough. If the nursery is humid and they water
frequently, you can have an apparently healthy plant with short stubby
roots at the surface of the pot. When I repot such plants into more
suitable mixes, they usually produce a more vigorous root system.

Some cattleyas just don't seem to like pots and will grow much better
roots on a mount.

In general, a taller pot will drain better than a short wide pot, and
the roots will get more oxygen. For S/H, I'd think that you definitely
want a pot that is taller than it is wide.

Nick

Joe,

Okay, the tears of laughter have now stopped running down my cheeks.

If you want to go with S/H, why not go to either HD or a paint store and
purchase an inexpensive plastic pail? We did that with a large (warm
tolerant) Cym after it literally broke out of its previous pail.

Diana

That reminds me of something we used to do with our kids and grandkids when
they were smaller. The grandkids might still like to do it if I resurect it.
I'd take a black nursey container, sand lightly and then spray paint it with
a white enamel. When dry, the kids could paint on them, color with magic
markers, whatever. They had a ball and the designs were one-of-a-kind and
actually a work- in-progress. Some of you might be old enough to have
grandkids who like to draw and paint pictures for grandma or grandpa. Well,
here's an idea where they also get to participate in grandma's hobby.
Repotting only goes so far as a novelty interest grabber. If you don't have
kids, grandkids, or simply want a more refined look, try doing one yourself.
Not into arts and crafts? Go buy a container someone else did.
Gary

"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
.. .
Joe,

Okay, the tears of laughter have now stopped running down my cheeks.

If you want to go with S/H, why not go to either HD or a paint store and
purchase an inexpensive plastic pail? We did that with a large (warm
tolerant) Cym after it literally broke out of its previous pail.

Diana

V_coerulea wrote:
That reminds me of something we used to do with our kids and grandkids when
they were smaller. The grandkids might still like to do it if I resurect it.
I'd take a black nursey container, sand lightly and then spray paint it with
a white enamel. When dry, the kids could paint on them, color with magic
markers, whatever. They had a ball and the designs were one-of-a-kind and
actually a work- in-progress. Some of you might be old enough to have
grandkids who like to draw and paint pictures for grandma or grandpa. Well,
here's an idea where they also get to participate in grandma's hobby.
Repotting only goes so far as a novelty interest grabber. If you don't have
kids, grandkids, or simply want a more refined look, try doing one yourself.
Not into arts and crafts? Go buy a container someone else did.
Gary

"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
.. .
Joe,

Okay, the tears of laughter have now stopped running down my cheeks.

If you want to go with S/H, why not go to either HD or a paint store and
purchase an inexpensive plastic pail? We did that with a large (warm
tolerant) Cym after it literally broke out of its previous pail.

Diana


OK! You folk have been great on this, I will print it all out and work
on it.

Issues outstanding;
I want these plants to look good year around. Thus the search for
something other than a washpan. I cut a 5 gallon plastic, yellow,
bucket in half, drilled two holes in it and planted Helen Brown in it.
She looks tacky to say the least.
An 8" S/H pot is 8" deep. A grown standard with 7 growths would be
happy in it, right? Than why wouldn't a 20 growth standard be happy in
a 20" W x 8"D pot? Makes sense to me. But... it should be presentable.
Remember I am a hobby type, not a grower. This is the end of the line
for these plants.
Wider pot equals more evaporation. That may be a problem, will check
with Ray.
Glazed pot works like a plastic one.(with a standpipe to hold the sump
level).
I finally got onto ABPO. What do you search for to find anything? I
have access through Roadrunner. Still looking for a Newsreader. The
thing I was using was a replayer. When I get on that I'l post pics of
all this.

Joe T
Baytown, Tx.

On Thu, 29 Jun 2006 19:35:19 -0400 in V_coerulea wrote:
I glad I could help. Please return the favor and let us all know your
secret of limiting an orchid collection's size. I always thought it was one
of the unwritten laws of nature that orchid collections will grow
exponentially until you run out of money, credit, or can't force Rob's rules
any further. By the way, if your stick to your plan, let me know when you're
about to force one out to make room for the next. My will power is not as
strong as yours. :)

I seem to have found the way to limit and reduce the size of a
collection.
Start working 15 hour days and not notice spider mites eating
up the phals.
OTOH, I have a sharry baby that's now trying to touch the ceiling
with a yet to bloom panacle. It seems to enjoy the neglect.
The Mtdm next to it seems to enjoy it as well as it's started on
a wholly unexpected panacle.

--
Chris Dukes
"The key to effective management is properly timed hovering."