A number of years ago I started making my own rhizome clips for plastic
pots since the regular ones don't work too well on plastic. Grab a piece of
wire with pliers so the wire is in the jaws from the side. Wrap the wire 2-3
time around the pliers jaws in a 1/2 to 3/4 in circle. Keep the circles
close. After the last wrap, pull the rest of the wire to a right angle to
the loops and clip off about 4" long. The loops fit down over the edge of
the pot snuggly, no matter what size pot and the 4" protrusion can be shaped
to curve down over the rhizome or press across the top of it.
If I had any sense, I would have marketed these somehow. I have seen these
recently in some catalog somewhere, I really can't remember where (Charlie's
maybe?). Once you learn how to make them, they're quick & simple and
extremely effective. So when you run out, just sit down and make a few from
a roll of galvanized.
A take off on this is to make the 4" tail as long as you like and keep it in
the same plane as the loops. Fasten the loops down over the edge of the pot
and your wire sticks straight up to tie any plant parts to. You can branch
out and get a little fancier making "cup-holders" for 4" pots with a loop
upward for hanging.
Gary

"wendy7" wrote in message
news:0o%Hc.312$f9.280@fed1read02...
For example, when I am potting, I use an old lazy susan.
I put it in a wide flat bowl which catches any spillage & is clean
enough to use.

--
Cheers Wendy

Remove PETERPAN for email reply

Good one Elinor, I may even have a palette knife in my box of oil painting
goodies. It would
probably be easier to buy one than find mine as it has been packed away in
the attic for a score!
Wondering if the palette would work on clay pots?
--
Cheers Wendy

Remove PETERPAN for email reply

ARIET B wrote:
There have been SO many good ideas here! But I hope you ALL have
used this one.
Go to the art store, and buy a palette knife. It is just a little
thing with a VERY flexible blade.
When you repot- first soak your plant in a pan/bucket(whatever is
appropriate for your plant) of water for a couple hours. I have
found that "overnight" is not too much, but it IS a bit scary. Then
when ready to dump the plant out- use the palette knife to gently
remove the roots from the pot. Works like magic- you can just slide
the thing under to "stuck-on" roots, and they come right off.
No home should be without one.
When you tire of your orchids, you can slop artist's paints-
acrylic/oil onto a palette, and then apply it to the canvas, just
like Van Gogh.
Elinor

I'm not to the part where I can go all Martha Stewart, but I use Q-tips
cotton swabs to stick down in the medium (Assuming that its not mounted)
To see if it's still moist or when the medium's dry.

-Sin

Prem: No problems with the galvanized hurting the plants?

I've been using "Glide" dental tape to affix very small orchids to
plaques. It's wide enough that it doesn't cut into plants, unlike
monofilament, and you can tie pretty good knots into it. Although, I
confess, I sometimes have to use hemostats or tweezers to do so. Sometimes
it's more like tying flies than mounting orchids!

The e-mail address in the header isn't valid. Send no mail there.

-AJHicks
Chandler, AZ

I use a kind of wire that is covered in dark green plastic. I adore it.
Maybe it's something like that Prem uses?
I can recommend the plastic-covered kind. I use it to anything orchidrelated
when needing support or thread. It is also possible to make baskets of it,
if you have some patience and creativity.

/Hillevi
Sweden

"Aaron Hicks" skrev i meddelandet
...
Prem: No problems with the galvanized hurting the plants?

I've been using "Glide" dental tape to affix very small orchids to
plaques. It's wide enough that it doesn't cut into plants, unlike
monofilament, and you can tie pretty good knots into it. Although, I
confess, I sometimes have to use hemostats or tweezers to do so. Sometimes
it's more like tying flies than mounting orchids!

The e-mail address in the header isn't valid. Send no mail there.

-AJHicks
Chandler, AZ

Aaron: Swallow your masculine pride, go to your closest Eckerd or
equivalent [drug store, sometimes also available at grocery stores], and
pick up however many you need of 69 cent queensize pantyhose. Cut off the
"panty" part and discard. Slice the legs into 1/2" strips, best thing you
can possibly find for mounting orchids onto trees or plaques. You should be
able to mount at least 10 small to medium plants with what you get out of
one pair -- no tweezers or hemostats required and, barring the selection of
a hideous color, a fairly unobtrusive appearance [most of the "beige" and
"suntan" shades tend to blend in fairly well with wood mounts].

Some folks also like to make little "bags" from the toe sections, to hold
time-release fert. for hanging plants [tied above the plant]. If you're a
snow- or sun-bird, not home to fertilize for lengthy perionds, this may be
better than nothing, but it doesn't really replace regular spray feeding.

--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids
http://www.jborchids.com


"Aaron Hicks" wrote in message
...
Prem: No problems with the galvanized hurting the plants?

I've been using "Glide" dental tape to affix very small orchids to
plaques. It's wide enough that it doesn't cut into plants, unlike
monofilament, and you can tie pretty good knots into it. Although, I
confess, I sometimes have to use hemostats or tweezers to do so. Sometimes
it's more like tying flies than mounting orchids!

The e-mail address in the header isn't valid. Send no mail there.

-AJHicks
Chandler, AZ

G'Day from the Southern Hemisphere,

If you want to mix a large amount of compost, uniformly, there are at
least two ways (again used by local growers from whom I learnt):

Use a rotatable composting bin to mix your potting mix ingredients, be
they bark & charcoal of various grades, peat & perlite, sphagnum and
styrofoam, whatever.

Do it in a cheap concrete mixer, hand rotatable or motor driven.

If your quantity of compost requirements are modest, do it by hand. But
for larger accumulations/collections of orchids, why waste time and
break your back?

Cordially, Phil (Brisbane Australia).

PS G'Day Kye. Haven't seen you for a while mate.


"K Barrett" writes:

I've been using a large tub used to mix small batches of concrete for a
potting tub. Holds a lot of medium. Also makes a nice tray to cart potting
materials around in. (Stakes, bark mix, wires, pots, cutters, torch - you
know... all the "stuff") I used to put this stuff in a kitty litter pan,
but it just wasn't large enough.

K Barrett

--
################################################## #############################
Dr Phil Diamond
Department of Mathematics, University of Queensland, Brisbane,AUSTRALIA 4072.
Tel +61 7 3365 3253 Fax +61 7 3365 1477

You know what else works for removing roots? A plastic plant tag,
preferably a fairly rigid one.

Diana

"wendy7" wrote in message
news:bevKc.21279$9I.9316@okepread02...
Good one Elinor, I may even have a palette knife in my box of oil painting
goodies. It would
probably be easier to buy one than find mine as it has been packed away in
the attic for a score!
Wondering if the palette would work on clay pots?
--
Cheers Wendy

Remove PETERPAN for email reply

ARIET B wrote:
There have been SO many good ideas here! But I hope you ALL have
used this one.
Go to the art store, and buy a palette knife. It is just a little
thing with a VERY flexible blade.
When you repot- first soak your plant in a pan/bucket(whatever is
appropriate for your plant) of water for a couple hours. I have
found that "overnight" is not too much, but it IS a bit scary. Then
when ready to dump the plant out- use the palette knife to gently
remove the roots from the pot. Works like magic- you can just slide
the thing under to "stuck-on" roots, and they come right off.
No home should be without one.
When you tire of your orchids, you can slop artist's paints-
acrylic/oil onto a palette, and then apply it to the canvas, just
like Van Gogh.
Elinor

On Tue, 13 Jul 2004 18:52:22 -0700, "wendy7"
wrote:

Super great ideas so far everyone! Hope we can keep this going
& going.
How about tag colours & the use of them. I use yellow ones for all
the species, white for hybrids. An added red tag is for bug treated plants.

I tried colors once for potting date. I label everything with
the P-touch type of label maker and tape - black type on white
plastic with clear tape.

So I tried blue and yellow. The first year every pot got a blue
tag with the date written on it. - Just the date. Any pot not
tagged in blue - needed repotting. Second year the tag color was
yellow, any blue tags were to be repotted... Ran out of tags and
mixed colors and did not get done.. gave up. I could not see the
tags often.

I also tried colored tag to tell me this was one I wanted to sell
at the next os meeting or the next time I had a chance.

SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php

I havent give this a try yet , but a friend mentioned to me about saving old
cattleya potting media , re-sterilizing it and using in paph mix...Hmmmm ,
perhaps , but I'm not so sure, and if you guys have any thoughts on this?
as it sounds frugal to me maybe I'll give it a shot , and boil up some
bark...hehehehe
Bright days & good growing
Todd
"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
nk.net...
You know what else works for removing roots? A plastic plant tag,
preferably a fairly rigid one.

Diana

"wendy7" wrote in message
news:bevKc.21279$9I.9316@okepread02...
Good one Elinor, I may even have a palette knife in my box of oil
painting
goodies. It would
probably be easier to buy one than find mine as it has been packed away
in
the attic for a score!
Wondering if the palette would work on clay pots?
--
Cheers Wendy

Remove PETERPAN for email reply

ARIET B wrote:
There have been SO many good ideas here! But I hope you ALL have
used this one.
Go to the art store, and buy a palette knife. It is just a little
thing with a VERY flexible blade.
When you repot- first soak your plant in a pan/bucket(whatever is
appropriate for your plant) of water for a couple hours. I have
found that "overnight" is not too much, but it IS a bit scary. Then
when ready to dump the plant out- use the palette knife to gently
remove the roots from the pot. Works like magic- you can just slide
the thing under to "stuck-on" roots, and they come right off.
No home should be without one.
When you tire of your orchids, you can slop artist's paints-
acrylic/oil onto a palette, and then apply it to the canvas, just
like Van Gogh.
Elinor

I don't reuse media for plant other than the one that was planted in it
originally. Sometimes the aliflor can be easily picked out of the mix if
the cocohusk has all fallen apart and most of it disolved in water and
washed through the hole in the bottom of the pot.

I don't find any value in using it for other orchids since it's broken down
and will just mean I'll have to repot again in a few months.

I do reuse media for topping off other house plants and hanging baskets in
the yard. I like to use old orchid mix this way so that the dirt doesn't
splash out when the rain hits the dirt or I squirt them with the hose.
Also, this gives the houseplants and hanging baskets a finished look that
you don't get with plain ole dirt.

Good growing,
Gene



"Orchidguy" wrote in message
om...
I havent give this a try yet , but a friend mentioned to me about saving
old
cattleya potting media , re-sterilizing it and using in paph mix...Hmmmm ,
perhaps , but I'm not so sure, and if you guys have any thoughts on this?
as it sounds frugal to me maybe I'll give it a shot , and boil up some
bark...hehehehe
Bright days & good growing
Todd
"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
nk.net...
You know what else works for removing roots? A plastic plant tag,
preferably a fairly rigid one.

Diana

"wendy7" wrote in message
news:bevKc.21279$9I.9316@okepread02...
Good one Elinor, I may even have a palette knife in my box of oil
painting
goodies. It would
probably be easier to buy one than find mine as it has been packed
away
in
the attic for a score!
Wondering if the palette would work on clay pots?
--
Cheers Wendy

Remove PETERPAN for email reply

ARIET B wrote:
There have been SO many good ideas here! But I hope you ALL have
used this one.
Go to the art store, and buy a palette knife. It is just a little
thing with a VERY flexible blade.
When you repot- first soak your plant in a pan/bucket(whatever is
appropriate for your plant) of water for a couple hours. I have
found that "overnight" is not too much, but it IS a bit scary. Then
when ready to dump the plant out- use the palette knife to gently
remove the roots from the pot. Works like magic- you can just
slide
the thing under to "stuck-on" roots, and they come right off.
No home should be without one.
When you tire of your orchids, you can slop artist's paints-
acrylic/oil onto a palette, and then apply it to the canvas, just
like Van Gogh.
Elinor

Can't help but notice that colour coding seems to be the theme for
tracking various things like watering/fertilizing...etc. This might
sound dumb, but personally, I use the good old fashioned pen + paper
method and just record the dates.

Cheers,
Xi

Susan Erickson wrote:
On Tue, 13 Jul 2004 18:52:22 -0700, "wendy7"
wrote:


Super great ideas so far everyone! Hope we can keep this going
& going.
How about tag colours & the use of them. I use yellow ones for all
the species, white for hybrids. An added red tag is for bug treated plants.


I tried colors once for potting date. I label everything with
the P-touch type of label maker and tape - black type on white
plastic with clear tape.

So I tried blue and yellow. The first year every pot got a blue
tag with the date written on it. - Just the date. Any pot not
tagged in blue - needed repotting. Second year the tag color was
yellow, any blue tags were to be repotted... Ran out of tags and
mixed colors and did not get done.. gave up. I could not see the
tags often.

I also tried colored tag to tell me this was one I wanted to sell
at the next os meeting or the next time I had a chance.

SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php

On Tue, 20 Jul 2004 02:38:10 GMT, "Gene Schurg"
wrote:

I do reuse media for topping off other house plants and hanging baskets in
the yard. I like to use old orchid mix this way so that the dirt doesn't
splash out when the rain hits the dirt or I squirt them with the hose.
Also, this gives the houseplants and hanging baskets a finished look that
you don't get with plain ole dirt.

Good growing,
Gene

A friend with a good sized collection in Chicago used to dump it
for mulch under the summer plant area. Turned out to be several
inches deep after a couple of years. Best all weather walk
because it was "mulch" and because it was partially broken down
it packed in well.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php

All kinds of reused potting soil, Orchid media, ect, are great, in my
experience for filling in the very bottom of huge planters, which take a lot
of soil. Especially if the plants you're planting in it won't get huge
amounts of roots, like annuals.
Murri

"Susan Erickson" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 20 Jul 2004 02:38:10 GMT, "Gene Schurg"
wrote:

I do reuse media for topping off other house plants and hanging baskets
in
the yard. I like to use old orchid mix this way so that the dirt doesn't
splash out when the rain hits the dirt or I squirt them with the hose.
Also, this gives the houseplants and hanging baskets a finished look that
you don't get with plain ole dirt.

Good growing,
Gene

A friend with a good sized collection in Chicago used to dump it
for mulch under the summer plant area. Turned out to be several
inches deep after a couple of years. Best all weather walk
because it was "mulch" and because it was partially broken down
it packed in well.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php

You know what else works for removing roots? A plastic plant tag,
preferably a fairly rigid one.

Diana

"wendy7" wrote in message
news:bevKc.21279$9I.9316@okepread02...
Good one Elinor, I may even have a palette knife in my box of oil painting
goodies. It would
probably be easier to buy one than find mine as it has been packed away in
the attic for a score!
Wondering if the palette would work on clay pots?
--
Cheers Wendy

Remove PETERPAN for email reply

ARIET B wrote:
There have been SO many good ideas here! But I hope you ALL have
used this one.
Go to the art store, and buy a palette knife. It is just a little
thing with a VERY flexible blade.
When you repot- first soak your plant in a pan/bucket(whatever is
appropriate for your plant) of water for a couple hours. I have
found that "overnight" is not too much, but it IS a bit scary. Then
when ready to dump the plant out- use the palette knife to gently
remove the roots from the pot. Works like magic- you can just slide
the thing under to "stuck-on" roots, and they come right off.
No home should be without one.
When you tire of your orchids, you can slop artist's paints-
acrylic/oil onto a palette, and then apply it to the canvas, just
like Van Gogh.
Elinor