What type of orchid pot material is best for cultivating orchids
For most women, the choice of pot material for cultivating orchids and the knowledge about the selection skills of orchid pots, such as the plants and flowers aspect, let's take a look together next.
Orchids have different requirements for pots compared to other flowers, as their fleshy roots are long and tender, easily injured, and have higher demands for ventilation, breathability, and moisture retention. The materials of orchid pots vary, and as long as they meet the requirements, pots made of various materials can be used. It is best for the purple sand pot material to be finer, the wall of the ceramic pot should be thinner, the wall of the tile pot should be thicker, and the bottom holes of the porcelain and plastic pots should be larger. This is because the purple sand material has good breathability; if the texture is too rough, it will be too breathable and not conducive to moisture retention. The texture of the ceramic pot is denser, and if it is too thick, it will not be breathable. The tile pot has the strongest breathability, and if the pot wall is too thin, it will easily dry out, and neglect can lead to water loss. Porcelain and plastic pots are basically not breathable or waterproof, so the bottom holes need to be enlarged or the number of holes increased to enhance breathability.
However, many purple sand and ceramic pots now have holes drilled in the pot walls and large holes at the bottom, and also have many large holes carved in the textured patterns at the lower part of the pot to increase breathability. In fact, this is harmful to the growth of orchids, as the purple sand material already has certain breathability, and generally 6-9 small round holes on the pot wall are sufficient for ventilation. If holes are carved in the lower part of the pot wall, small holes are acceptable, but large and numerous holes are very detrimental to the moisture retention of the potting soil, and it's possible that the pot may not be dry yet, but the bottom of the pot dries out first.
The selection of orchid pots should also be determined based on the cultivating environment. If cultivating orchids on a rooftop garden or balcony, where the climate is dry, it is suitable to choose ceramic or porcelain pots. If cultivating orchids in a ground-level garden or courtyard, where the environment is relatively humid, it is suitable to choose purple sand or tile pots. If cultivating orchids in an indoor greenhouse, where coarse growing media is generally used and moisture evaporates easily, a fine-textured pot or a plastic pot with holes in the wall can be chosen. Some orchid enthusiasts say, "Tile pots on the first floor, sandy pots on the second floor, purple sand pots on the third and fourth floors, and porcelain pots on the fifth and sixth floors." This makes sense. However, it is best to use the same type of pot in the same environment for easier management.
The use of orchid pots also has strong local characteristics. In the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, large-scale orchid cultivation prefers oblique cylinder-shaped tile pots with a large mouth and small bottom and deep walls; small-scale orchid cultivation prefers beautiful purple sand and ceramic pots. In the western regions, people mostly prefer pots with smaller mouths and bottoms and a larger belly in the middle. This is probably because the general growing medium used in western orchid cultivation is humus soil, which is beneficial for moisture retention and makes it easier to remove the soil when changing pots. Unlike the south, where hard growing media are commonly used, if orchids are planted in pots with a small mouth and a large belly, it is not easy to remove the orchids when changing pots.
The above introduction on the choice of pot material for cultivating orchids and the comprehensive method of pot selection skills hope to provide a starting point and solve your green plant problems.