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How To Choose The Right Orchid Pot: Size, Material, & Characteristics
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Oct 3, 2024
Fact or Myth: Orchids Prefer Clear Plastic Pots to Grow Clear plastic pots seem to be the preference when growing orchids. But does it really make a difference? To determine if the pot makes a difference in growing orchids, I put together a comparison and weighed out the factoring determinants of whether clear plastic pots were the best choice for the orchid. What are the best pots for Phalaenopsis orchids? Clear plastic pots with large drainage holes or slots are the best for Phalaenopsis orchids, inducing healthier orchid roots. Healthy roots mean a healthy orchid. Other pots had negative factors that weighed down their ranking. If you want the full explanation of this video in writing, go to https://orchideria.com/clear-plastic-pots/ On Orchideria.com, you can find more in-depth guides and all the access to our information, tutorials, guides, and much more... all for free! Happy Cultivating! ______________________ HASHTAGS: #orchidcare #orchid #Orchideria #AmandaMatthews _______________________ SOCIAL MEDIA:
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0:00
Your orchid has flowered. The flowers were beautifully awesome and then they wilted and fell off because that's, you know, the natural life cycle of the orchid
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And now it's time to repot your orchid. Like this little guy right here, I probably could have repotted him last year because he's just growing straight outside the pot
0:20
And if I don't repot him soon, all these roots are probably going to be hurt because of mechanical damage because I'm always in there, you know, touching them and moving
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them and doing stuff I really shouldn't be doing. So in this video I'm going to share my tips of how I choose the right pot since there are
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so many and how do you know which pot goes with which orchids
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Hi, I'm Amanda Matthews and thank you so much for watching this video at Orcadaria, where I share
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my tips about how I grow my orchids indoors since I've lived overseas for the majority of my life
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when I came back home to Kansas. I mean, Kansas has great weather
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Don't get me wrong, but only during a few months of the year, the rest it's either way too hot or way too cold
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And I don't like to take my orchids outside and bring it back in and take them outside and bring them back in
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So I just grow them indoors. The first thing I want to talk about is size
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And when you're picking the right size for your orchid pot, it does matter
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So you have a 1.5 inch pot and probably the most common you'll see is between a 5 and a 7 inch pot online to buy
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Now, how do you know how big of a pot to plant your orchid in
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Well, that's going to depend on mainly one thing. What kind of orchid you have
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First, see if you have a monopodial orchid or a sympodial orchid
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A monopodial orchid, mono means one. It's going to grow straight up
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It's going to have one unique stem, which is like the falin
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which was probably the orchid that you bought first. So your monopodial orchid you're going to
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want to pick a pot that is one inch larger or 2.5 centimeters larger than that one that it's currently
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in. Usually phalanopsis we repot every two years. So that two year space is going to need a pot
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that's going to expand the roots in here for about an inch. Now a sympodial orchid means it has many
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instead of just one stem, it has many stems and it runs across a central rhizome that you can see right here
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So this rhizome is going to grow and it grows out horizontally
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And from this horizontal rhizome, then it's going to produce all those stem
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So sympodial orchids, you will need a larger pot because during that two-year time span, it's going to travel out in all directions
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This is also a catele orchid. It's producing growth in both directions, so it's growing from this side and from this side
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So I'll need to add both a pot that can accommodate on both sides unless I divide it, which I don't plan on doing
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Usually they don't do this. Usually they just grow in one direction, but this one had some stress issues, decided that one side wasn't growing great
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So I grew on the other side and the other side started growing. It just all, once it got over its issues, it started growing on both sides again
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So if I repot this, I don't need to solely think of, okay, two inches on this side
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I need to think about also two inches on this side. Keep that in mind, which way is your orchid growing
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If you have a sympodial orchid it will only grow in one direction I give you another example The older growth started on this side and now it growing outside of the pot on that side
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So I need to calculate the size on this side. You know, add two inches here
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Some orchids are just really slow growers, so you don't have to do all that, you know, overpot
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Which brings me to a very important point. and that is do not over pot
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It's best if you under pot and keep that pot a little smaller
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than if you get a pot that is too big and just bury your orchid in there
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And that is because of one thing. The orchid needs to feel stability
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When you are about to repot an orchid, remember this is probably the second most stressful time of its life
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And the first one was when you bought it and it came through transport
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It had time to adjust to your environment. and now it's time to repot the poor thing
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This is going to be horrible for the orchid. It's going to hate it. It's going to hate you for it
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You know, it's kind of like kids. You do, though it's the best for them and they hate you for it. Forget that part
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Make sure that they feel safe in their new pots. They need to feel cozy and warm
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It's kind of like going back to little kids. It's kind of like putting them in bed
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You want to, you know, make sure the little covers are all around there. You know, snug them in real nice and tight and make sure that they feel cozy and safe
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same thing for the orchid so same thing for this guy when i repot him i need to get a pot that is going to
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make them feel safe make them feel secure that is snug and tight and will allow them still room to grow so
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that's why we keep the one inch 2.5 centimeters on a phalanopsis and if you have a sympodial orchid
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on cytiums catlia and derviums others they will need a pot that is a little wider on the
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sides. And just like grammar, there is an exception to that rule, which is a mini orchid
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Now, mini orchid, when you repot this little guy, you will need a pot that is the exact same size
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because even though he is small, that's the only size that he's ever going to get. So the roots
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aren't going to expand that much. So when you repot your mini orchid, you are going to use the
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same size pot. So miniatures keep the same size pot. That's the exact. That's the exact
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and we can go on to our next point. By the way, if this video is helping you in any way of clarifying some kind of doubt you have
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please give it a like or comment or tell me what I'm doing wrong because that actually helps me
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to know what videos to do more of or what videos to stay away from you
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Like, never more. This topic sucks. So please give it a like or any kind of feedback is what I'm asking for, really
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Okay, let's go on to the next. next point. The second tip is does it matter if my orchid pot has holes in it or not? Do I really
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need to put holes in it? And I would answer this. If you have an orchid that is so used to
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humidity or you have a terrestrial orchid or a semi-terrestrial orchid, it will not need that many
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holes in it. For example, the Catacetam pot, which is right there, I'll zoom in. It only has holes on the bottom
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third of the pot because the rest those roots really love that water so I need to keep that humidity
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high. Another orchid is a, oh I got to take this off. Another orchid is a pathopetalum and this one is
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putting out a new spike and also a new growth on this side. There are no holes in this pot. There
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is nothing under well drainage holes of course There are no air holes on the side of this pot because it loves that humidity Since my home office is so dry I mean so dry So I need to keep that humidity really high around that
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pot. So no, you do not need holes, but if you're just starting out, yes, get holes in that pot
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Now, you can make holes by either heating up scissors and getting a normal place
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plastic pot like this, heating up scissors, heating up a hot iron, getting a hot nail. Usually if you try scissors, you're going to bust your pot like that, which is normal. That's just part of the learning curve. Don't worry about it. You can use this pot even though it looks horrible. Just make a whole bunch of holes. So for example, if I use only sphagnum moss, I would never use a pot with no holes in it. I want those holes because sphagnum
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Spagnum absorb so much water. Spagnum is like a sponge, so it's going to absorb everything around that
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If I only have inorganic material kind of like river rock or pebbles or charcoal absorb it, or just orchid bark in huge hunks
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I can use a pot without any holes because it's not going to absorb that much
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So the whole idea of having holes in your pot is to get that air in and out and to make sure
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that there is ventilation. Once you understand and get a hang of it, you don't need to buy those
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expensive pots anymore. Because honestly, these are pretty expensive. Just get an old pot, make
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holes in it somehow. And even if you can make holes, you can make slits, you can use any kind
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of thing just to get ventilation in there. Doesn't have to be pretty. Because the pretty part
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is on top. I do want to take a parentheses out here before I get to the next point, which is
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thank you so much. I put my first poll out on my community. You can go to my page and look on the
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community and I put out my first poll of what topics you would like to see more of. And I got an
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amazing response. I thought, well, nobody's going to answer. But you guys did. So thank you so much for
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that. And I found myself going back to it every like 30 minutes. Like, okay, what's the answer now
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and I receive like repottings growing. The next one, oh, it's past and spots and problems and, oh, no, it's mounted
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This video was an answer to that because I want to thank you so much better pal fish
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You took the time to write out and tell me what you wanted
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So this is for you. The next question. Terracotta or plastic, which is best
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There are great advantages to using a terracotta or a clay pot
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and the biggest problem I've found with these is trying to get the holes in them
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Have you tried? Honestly, have you tried to drill a hole in these
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I mean, talk about manpower. Talk about using your muscles and working out
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I managed to break like four of these until I gave up
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There is one drainage hole at the bottom. But now here's the good part
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There are advantages to these. These will keep the roots cooler. So if you live in a hot environment
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These are perfect because they will keep the roots cooler and in that temperature range that is more adequate for them
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And they will also absorb tons of moisture, which makes them pretty ugly over time
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For example, this guy right here has been in terracota. And yeah, ignore this cakey here
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He broke off. Yeah, just ignore him. Look at the bigger one
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Look at the mama plant It turns out to be pretty ugly over time but if you can ignore this please do because it is a great solution and you will have to water a little bit less This pot will
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absorb a lot of water. Now, a good thing about this is this, this pot is breathable. So you
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really don't need the holes. I mean, it doesn't look like it, but it actually does provide
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for air to come in and out of this pot. So that, That is an excellent idea for this is my second runner-up, my second choice of what pot to choose
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But first is plastic with holes. The second is a terracotta pot
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The third runner-up would be to mount the orchid in a little wooden basket or some kind
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of basket or mounted on a log or a tree or something to get that mounted
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Keeping these orchid roots dry and wet is really, really hard and to get that balance
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But if you have a very humid environment, it's great to mount them
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If you have a drier environment, mounting can be a little tricky
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So keep that in mind with the third kind of pot, which would be a basket to keep your orchids in
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What nobody talks about though is this. The most important thing about choosing the pot
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really isn't the size because your orchid will forgive you, it really isn't the plastic or terracotta or ceramic or whatever
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It really isn't that. It's drainage. Drainage, drainage. That is the most important thing about selecting the right type of pot
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So if you have a pot and it's not draining, that's going to kill your orchid, whether it's
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plastic, terracota, ceramic, or anything. So don't, don't, don't, don't get a pot that doesn't
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have drainage. For example, this is cute. I love this pot. Let me take them out here
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I love this pot, but it's horrible. There are no drainage holes. This is a sticker. There are no drainage holes
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So even though I love my little mini and I put him here when he's flowering, when he's not flowering, I take him out and put him on my shelf and just the little plastic pot that he has in
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This is only good for showcasing your orchids that are in bloom
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When they're not in bloom, get them out of this pot. This is a decorative pot
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Decorative pots do not do anything. I mean, they trap the air
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They trap the light. They won't allow drainage. Decorative pots are terrible
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Now, if you have a decorative pot that is all worked around and has beautiful designs in it
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and allows light and airflow and drainage and all that good stuff, go for it
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Except I found those extremely expensive, but that's just me. So keep your orchid in a decorative pot when it's in bloom, just to showcase it
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to put it on the table, to, you know, after all, it took a year to get this and you want to show
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I mean, you really want to make the best out of this. So keep your orchid in a decorative pot only when it's
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in flower and bloom once it's out of flour put it back on the shelf I watch all
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these other videos about orchids and they have such beautiful pots and I'm like
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mine die so I don't I mean if I if I have guest over I get my
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orchid I put in a little decorative pot put on table have dinner and then afterwards
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it's going back on the shelf and that ugly pot thank you so much for watching
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and don't stop your orchid care here I can suggest these two videos right here
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and happy cultivating
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