Orchid pot selection doesn't need deep study; the growing medium structure and moisture control are what really matter

Whenever new orchid growers are just starting out, they are always thinking about what kind of flower pot to use for growing orchids. Thinking back to when I first started growing orchids, the orchid pots in my home were truly like a general store, with every kind of pot imaginable. At first, I used the very traditional and popular celadon ceramic pots of Chaoshan, and later I came to prefer purple clay pots. As the number of orchids increased, the jumble of pots made management inconvenient. In order to harmonize the many orchid pots in the orchid room so that drainage rates could be uniform, it became necessary to use pots of similar size, thickness, texture, and shape, so that when many orchid pots in the same room were watered at the same time, after the same period, each pot would dry at the same rate, or at least not differ too much. From today's perspective, this is relatively easy to achieve with plastic flower pots. Of course, some orchid growers, for ventilation and aesthetics, specially order or buy whole batches of purple clay pots or lightweight porcelain pots, but the cost is really quite high. Regarding plastic pots, many orchid growers have different views and feel they are not ventilated, but this is actually a misunderstanding.

Whether orchids are difficult to grow depends first on solving the problems of ventilation and moisture control in the pot structure. What kind of orchid pot is used and what kind of growing medium is mixed are both crucial. As for what kind of flower pot to use, the focus should be on economy and practicality. If the choice of growing medium and moisture control are not mastered well, then no matter how good the orchid pot is, the results will not necessarily be good.

There are many kinds of flower pots for cultivating orchids. Commonly used ones include clay pots, porcelain pots, purple clay pots, and plastic pots. Clay pots, that is, unglazed earthenware pots, have good air permeability, can filter water, and are inexpensive, making them suitable for large orchid nurseries, but clay pots are rather rough and not very attractive, so they are not suitable for direct display and viewing. In addition, from an economic point of view, clay pots are much more expensive than soft plastic cultivation cups. The sandy orchid pots fired in Yingjing, Sichuan, have good water absorption and air permeability, but when combined with locally commonly used growing media such as peat soil, it is still not easy to achieve the effect of fast drying and fast wetting in the pot.

Porcelain pots, that is, glazed pots, are generally used as cachepots. Their appearance is attractive, but both air permeability and water filtration are relatively poor, and in this respect they are no different from plastic flower pots. Of course, in terms of cost, they are also more expensive than plastic flower pots. Recently, a kind of lightweight porcelain flower pot has appeared on the market that is fired at low temperature and has the characteristics of water absorption and air permeability, but the price is even more expensive.

Purple clay pots fall between clay pots and porcelain pots, combining the advantages and disadvantages of both, but they are relatively expensive. They are more likely to be used by families growing orchids in small quantities, such as the Chuhan clay orchid pots produced in Yixing, Zhejiang.

In the Dali, Jianchuan, and Lijiang areas of western Yunnan, a kind of black earthenware jar (also called a waist-drum pot) is traditionally used. This kind of pot is loose in texture, has thin walls, and has multiple drainage holes left in the bottom. The ratio of pot height to pot width is about 3:2, with a smaller mouth and bottom and a thickened middle section. In this way, the capacity of the area where roots concentrate is increased, making it very suitable for the growth and development of orchids with thick roots, such as Lianban orchids, Xiaoxuesu, and Daxuesu. Its disadvantages are that the pot mouth is relatively small, making division and repotting difficult to carry out, and the pots are generally large and heavy after being filled with soil, making moisture control even harder.

Plastic pots are commonly used containers for growing orchids in recent years. They are lightweight, cheap, and convenient to use, and are currently used a great deal in various places in the south. Plastic pots do not absorb water and have poor air permeability and heat dissipation, but this can generally be compensated for by raising the orchid pots on stands, adding more drainage material, and other methods. Plastic pots are often paired with breathable materials such as volcanic rock and sphagnum moss as growing media for orchid cultivation. As long as the structure of the growing medium in the pot is reasonable, plastic flower pots can likewise achieve the effect of ventilation and air permeability. As far as the natural living environment of orchids is concerned, orchid roots grow underground, and the ventilation effect there is not necessarily better than in plastic pots. The issue is that the soil where they grow is relatively loose and drains freely, so they can also flourish. A single orchid seedling introduced for tens of thousands of yuan is likewise grown in a plastic pot, and it develops quite well.

There is no fixed method for growing orchids; any kind of pot can be used to grow orchids well. At the company where I work, two large pots of orchids are placed by a window. The pots have a mouth diameter of 40 cm. These porcelain pots originally had no holes in the bottom or sides, and later only one small hole was drilled in each bottom for drainage. The two pots of wild-collected Four Seasons orchids have bloomed every year for four years and are growing well. The reasons are, first, that the pots were filled entirely with Kanuma soil, and second, that workers were required to water only once every 10 to 15 days.

In short, when choosing flower pots, aside from a certain requirement for uniformity to make management easier, it does not matter much what kind of flower pot is used. The key is what growing medium is used and how moisture is controlled. Of course, there is another issue: the size of the orchid pot must be matched to the strength or weakness of the seedlings. If a very weak single seedling is to be grown, and a medium-sized orchid pot must be used, then it is recommended to plant two to three seedlings in one pot. Excerpted from "Orchid Treasure Classic". I publish orchid knowledge and pictures every day, taking you to understand orchids in depth and teaching you how to grow orchids easily. If there is anything you do not understand about orchids, you can ask me at any time or leave a message below. If my knowledge has helped you, I hope you can give me a like or share it to help more people!