Mark this date for Basket culture.

[goldenrose]

Hi, I am thinking about trying basket culture to see how I get on. I am in europe and baskets are not that easy to find, and are expensive, would the baskets you would put aquatic plants in, suffice

I would think so, you may not need to line the interior with much moss if the holes are small enough to keep your potting mix in.

but would we want the roots to come out if they wish? Some of the aquatic/net pots come heavy duty, these hold up much better. Why not just make some out of plastic coated wire mesh?

 

[Rick]

The Orchid pot Co. sells plasctic baskets which last forever. I don't know if they export. http://www.orchidpotco.com/products.htm

Actually you don't want them to last forever. You want them to decompose after time to grow them into the next size basket.

The plastic ones hold up too well, and when you try to move the plant out of a plastic net basket the roots can get torn up.

I have a handful of bulbos (and I guess my Xerophyticum) that started out in net and solid plastic pots. Instead of repoting I just stuck them (pot and all into a basket, and then let them grow over the top into the next container.

I don't think this will work well fro most slippers since they don't run long stolons and rambel over the top of the media.

 

[Stone]

Actually you don't want them to last forever. You want them to decompose after time to grow them into the next size basket.

You will find that sooner or later you will need to remove the old material and repot with fresh. Moving an old basket into a new one without changing the mix will work for a while but as the original old roots in the center of the rootball age and start to die off, this area will become the seat of future trouble in my experience. The free root run of the basket will/does greatly improve the vigour of the plant but to keep it going long term (10 years +?), I find that it helps if you can get to that middle of the rootball area somehow and blast the old dead roots and rubbish with water.If you can manage this with the wooden basket without removing the plant then no problem. I also find it helpful to stuff this old center area with bits of polystyrene and surrounding that with your normal mix.
With the plastic baskets, you get the benefit of all the air around the roots and the advatage of being able to lift out the entire root ball and work on it before you move it up to the next.

The plastic ones hold up too well, and when you try to move the plant out of a plastic net basket the roots can get torn up.

I agree so when I use the mesh pots now I line the inside with weed-mat fabric to avoid that. Not as open as a basket but better than a big pot.

 

[gotsomerice]

FYI
The late Ray Rands (Paph. randsii) grew most of his specimen plants in the wooden baskets too. The rest of his plants were in the Rands' Air Cone pots that he invented. I think the weirdest thing I've seen in bloom was a paph. that he crossed (tigrinum x leucochilum). I am still regretting the fact that I didn't buy that plant.

 

[SlipperKing]

FYI
The late Ray Rands (Paph. randsii) grew most of his specimen plants in the wooden baskets too. The rest of his plants were in the Rands' Air Cone pots that he invented. I think the weirdest thing I've seen in bloom was a paph. that he crossed (tigrinum x leucochilum). I am still regretting the fact that I didn't buy that plant.

That's the next plant I want to put into a basket

 

[Trithor]

I make baskets out of off cuts of various African hardwoods that we accumulate at the workshop. They do not rot very quickly, and even years later after placing one inside the next and then into another, the first has not rotted away. I find that my dendrobes and catts do not need any potting material at this stage as there is enough root mass and wooden slats to form enough substrate. Obviously paphs would be different not being strictly epiphytic.

 

[Rick]

Obviously paphs would be different not being strictly epiphytic.

Not neccessarily. There's a handful that are strict epiphytes, some switch hitters, and some of the cliff dwellers have roots totally exposed and are for all purposes "epiphytic"

Villosum is an obvious full out epiphyte, and I'm expeciting henryanum to fall into that last category.

My multis in general are doing well in this system, especially the stonei's.