How deep do you pot your plants?

[papheteer]

I checked some plants and saw that most of the new roots that started from the base have stopped growing. These are potted slightly below the potting mix already. The base where the leaves and roots are attached is about 5mm below the mix. I grow indoors and my humidity is around 50%. The top part of the mix dries quickly. Should I be potting deeper? How deep? Thanks!

 

[gonewild]

I checked some plants and saw that most of the new roots that started from the base have stopped growing. These are potted slightly below the potting mix already. The base where the leaves and roots are attached is about 5mm below the mix. I grow indoors and my humidity is around 50%. The top part of the mix dries quickly. Should I be potting deeper? How deep? Thanks!

Keep the media surface moist. If you can't water more often the mulch with moss.

 

[papheteer]

Lance, if I keep the surface almost moist then the bottom half of the pot will be constantly wet. And that would mean watering every 2 days at least!

 

[Hera]

Mist the top of the medium, daily if needed. The roots will be stimulated by the damper environment.

 

[gonewild]

Lance, if I keep the surface almost moist then the bottom half of the pot will be constantly wet. And that would mean watering every 2 days at least!

That's why I suggested covering the surface with moss. It will create a humid environment that encourages new roots to grow out.

 

[papheteer]

Thanks. Ill try that!

 

[Ozpaph]

Lance and Hera are spot on. Go with there advice. Don't 'bury' the plants.

 

[Rick]

Lance, if I keep the surface almost moist then the bottom half of the pot will be constantly wet. And that would mean watering every 2 days at least!

I went through this battle for a couple years before I just gave in to increasing humidity. There's no nutrition fix for overall problems with poor climate control.

Ultimately I don't think there is a good work around for growing orchids in dry conditions (no matter how much you water).

I would spend time/money developing mold proof enclosures to that you can get the humidity up to 70+ percent. Or switch to species/cultivars that don't care about low humidity. CAM species are adapted to low humidity, but I don't know of any Paphs that are full time CAM plants.

 

[ALToronto]

Forgive the noob ignorance, but what does 'CAM' stand for?

 

[Rick]

Forgive the noob ignorance, but what does 'CAM' stand for?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crassulacean_acid_metabolism

Crassulacean Acid Metabolism
One of 3 basic forms of plant metabolism (C3 and C4 the other 2). This is still a simplification because some plants can switch depending on environmental conditions.

But CAM plants are particularly suited for hot/dry environments since they only open their pores up at night for uptaking CO2 (and otherwise loosing water). Overall the plant only needs a fraction of the water used by a typical C3 plant.

About 40-60% of orchids are CAM capable, but the last I heard, none of these are slippers. Maybe Mexipedium if someone runs the test. Most of the CAM species are either low or strongly seasonal rainfall areas, or species found in tree canopies or otherwise very exposed.

I think all the Cattleya are CAM orchids.

The way this is tested is by using radioactively labeled carbon for CO2 source, and checking C14 concentrations after light and dark exposures.

C3 plants have their pores open during light hours, and use a lot of water in comparison. It is strenuous on these plants to loose a lot of water through the leaves, so it doesn't neccesarily help to add more water to the roots (especially if it is full of inorganic salts).