Grouping Phalaenopsis?

Blue Onion

I just rescued four healthy non-blooming Phalaenopsis from the GC for $1 each(!).  They are in that horrid moss/tiny ceramic pot situation.  I've got bark compost to repot them.. but at late o'clock last night I ordered two 8” wood slat hanging baskets for them.  My plan was to plant two per container, as 8” should be enough space for two full grown plants..  but in the light of day, I wondered if I'll regret it.  

Your thoughts?

Fire

I think it depends whom you speak to. Some say phals like / don't mind being cramped as in the wild they squeeze into to tree crevices. Others will tell you to repot if the roots look squeezed. I choose a big pot because cramped roots make me feel uncomfortable. Lord knows how the orchids feel. A big pot, they say, makes root rot more likely as more moisture can be held. But phals seem to split growers quite acutely and give radically different advice on every point. You could try your basket and see what happens. I would say that if you are getting loads and loads of aerial roots after six months, then then give them a pot each.

Blue Onion

Thanks Fire.. I have four others which bloom once or twice a year.. but that windowsill is out of space.. so I am going to try to hang these one's above them.  It's right above the kitchen sink.. and in our dry climate, it's the one place with light and moisture about.  

Fire

They repot quite easily, so no bother to change the plan if it doesn't work. I like the idea of hanging phals.

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Blue Onion

Hehe.. I will.. soon as A**zon delivers my baskets.  Wisley had amazing displays in their glass house using the baskets.. I'm trying to bring a bit of that into my kitchen.  😋

Dovefromabove

Wisley in your kitchen ... now there's an idea .... 

Blue Onion

Wisley feels more attainable than Kew.  They have many varieties of orchids wired with a bit of moss all over their humid glasshouse.. 


Lovely.. but a bit unrealistic for my kitchen.  

Dovefromabove

Cambridge University Botanical Gardens have some lovely phals hanging in one of the glasshouses ... for the life of me I can't remember what sort of containers they're in ... another visit is due ...

Fire

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