Phragmipedium Pots

[xiphius]

I use good ole clay pots from Lowes

Seconded. I have pretty much all of my phrags in clay and they seem to love it. Clay is naturally more airy than plastic (even without drilled holes). Plus, the wicking and evaporation helps keep the roots cool and happy in the summer when it gets hot (if that matters for your area). As an added bonus, they are far less likely to tip over than plastic pots because they are heavier (the negative though is that they are heavier, so it makes handling things slightly more cumbersome ).

 

[Silverwhisp]

The advantages of using clay in the summer heat make sense, but what about the same setup in the winter? At night, our house is around 60 F. Might that be too chilly for a damp orchid surrounded by clay?

 

[Krister Lawlor]

I discovered after many tries that I cant use clay for any plants that like water. All except my succulents end up with a mold growing on the outside. Something about indoors in florida will not allow me to grow anything without mold growing on the pots. Outdoors are fine though, I will take clay any day for outdoors

 

[TyroneGenade]

Tyrone, how do you deal with the phrag roots in a pot like that? Do they ever grow out of the basket? Do they get stuck when trying to repot? Do you sit them in water?

I will soon find out... I am letting the roots of my Paphs and Catts simply run out as they like.

I am not standing any of the Phrags in water. As they are potted in bark now I don't want the bark to stay soggy and decompose. I water regularly (2x a week) and mist daily. So far so good. The big Phrag and several individually potted seedlings seems to be doing well.

 

[richgarrison]

I discovered after many tries that I cant use clay for any plants that like water. All except my succulents end up with a mold growing on the outside. Something about indoors in florida will not allow me to grow anything without mold growing on the pots. Outdoors are fine though, I will take clay any day for outdoors

i do grow oncidiinae in clay, and keep most of them pretty wet. The clay pots in the greenhouse will grow a nice coating of algae, and the ones sitting on the flagstone ledges actually will grow moss on both them and the surrounding flagstone...

But mold growing on them indoors? yikes that doesn't sound healthy for anyone.

 

[Krister Lawlor]

i do grow oncidiinae in clay, and keep most of them pretty wet. The clay pots in the greenhouse will grow a nice coating of algae, and the ones sitting on the flagstone ledges actually will grow moss on both them and the surrounding flagstone...

But mold growing on them indoors? yikes that doesn't sound healthy for anyone.

Are you using the really porous clay pots or those nice dense stoneware pots? I don't have problems with the dense clay pots without pores, only the ones that hold in moisture. It's sad because I quite like earthen goods, but I'm beginning to appreciate plastic pots, especially with naughty cats in the house knocking everything over.
Just yesterday my cat was in hot pursuit of a lizard and she ended up knocking over three orchids and one of them got its' only leaf crushed under the weight of the clay pot. Im assuming the orchid is probably not going to make it after that RIP

This isn't my photo, but this is about what it looks like after about two weeks

 

[Ray]

That could be salts coming out of an underfired clay body, minerals from your water supply, or both.

 

[xiphius]

The advantages of using clay in the summer heat make sense, but what about the same setup in the winter? At night, our house is around 60 F. Might that be too chilly for a damp orchid surrounded by clay?

A valid point. I have all of mine in a basement. In the winter, on the coldest nights it probably dips down to into the high low 60s (F). I haven't had any big issues yet, but my collection of phrags isn't huge.

This isn't my photo, but this is about what it looks like after about two weeks

Mine do that too. I've always just attributed that to evaporation deposits from wicked water. Leaving it doesn't seem to hurt anything (for me). I generally wipe them down, or blast them off with water, every few weeks if it starts to bother my sensibilities. When I repot, I clean the pots with a wire brush to remove all deposits before reusing. My water is pretty soft though, so if you have really hard water, it might be more of an issue.