Hi all. I’m new to Planta and have a question. I use plastic pots with slits for my orchids. Is it best to choose Planta’s “plastic pots” option for these plants, even though the slits allow for airflow? I don’t want to throw off Planta’s watering calculations. Thanks!
Orchids love air flow in their roots! I find wood chips or orchid potting mix is the best for them as there's plenty of gaps for air to go through. They also like to have their roots photosynthetise hence the commonality of clear plastic pots for them. I personally opted for a glass terrarium type thing, more like a bowl to allow the sun as well as air flow and it looks much better than the plastic pots they usually come in
2 likes Thank you. I think my post wasn’t clear. I’m not asking about what pot to use, I’m asking what’s the best pot type to pick in Planta to correspond to a plastic pot with slits.
1 like Can you post a picture of your terrarium? I’d love some inspiration.
1 like Oh so sorry! Yeah I'd say plastic pot then
1 like Thank you - and I appreciate the advice you gave as well as I’m new to growing orchids.
1 likeHey Peter- this is an excellent question, and we’ve kinda talked about Planta’s watering suggestions for orchids in this group in the past. Just wanted to mention that I wouldn’t go religiously by this apps watering schedule. There’s no way for them to take into account what kind of orchid you have, what your potting media is, what your environment is like, and what needs your orchid has in its growth cycle at any particular time of year. You are going to have to let your orchid guide you to determine a good watering schedule. I’m going to assume you have a phalaenopsis since that’s most commonly available and what most new orchid growers tend to start with. Pay attention to the color of the roots. If your media is wet and the roots are green, leave it alone and let it dry out for a couple more days. If the media is dry and the roots are that pretty silvery grey color, then it’s time to water. Depending on your environment and all the things I mentioned above- that could be every 4 days or every 10 days. The app can’t possibly know.
10 likes Thank you!!!!
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There isn't unfortunately a 'naked root' pot option, so i go with the plastic
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I asked this question previously in Planta feedback. The moderator said that the algorithm for the plastic pot selection is designed to account for additional ventilation. With that being said, I use the app as a guide and not gospel.
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