OK, so I've seen these pots used on Asian cymbidiums because of their long root systems. The Japanese tall plastic pots are very nice, but also very expensive to bring in. I recently discovered 'tree pots' when I was in California and saw Norito Hasegawa using them for Asian cymbidiums.

Tree pots come in many sizes and shapes, and they are just the pot for those of you who have phrag. besseae and besseae hybrids that like to crawl waaay up on a long rhizome. There are a few things you can do when this happens.

A) You could just chop off the newest growth at the rhizome, discarding of the entire root system while hoping the new one develops (which it does, but it takes a while)

B) Keep the existing root system while using a tall pot, hence the tree pot.

The following are the steps I used in order, followed by pics of each step. Let me know what you think, and if you'd like to see these pots available for purchase as I have to make a pretty hefty order and only really want to do it if there is interest (I personally think this is great!).

1)The orchid, in this case Phrag. Hanne Popow flavum. You can see the long rhizome sticking up with the main root mass way below.
http://www.orchidweb.com/image/1.jpg

2)The tree pot. This is the 4" x 10" long size.
http://www.orchidweb.com/image/2.jpg

3)The drainage on these things is huge, and most bark will just fall through, so I used some sphagnum moss at the bottom for drainage. The best thing to do would be to cut screen and push it to the bottom.
http://www.orchidweb.com/image/3.jpg

4)I remove all the old growth and leave only what is on top. This may be painful for you, but these growths are just making a mess and we don't need them anymore. In truth, these areas can still produce more new growths, but this example is how to make the plant look nice and clean!
http://www.orchidweb.com/image/4.jpg

5)You can now see what I've done. The plant will end up pushing many new roots at the base of the newest growth, but only after they are in potting material (they just sit dormant until they get adequate moisture).
http://www.orchidweb.com/image/5.jpg

6)It was a perfect fit! The main root mass is at the very bottom of the pot.
http://www.orchidweb.com/image/6.jpg

7)The finished product. The plant was not stressed at all! I did this about a month ago and it just kept right on flowering without any signs of stress. So what do you think?
http://www.orchidweb.com/image/7.jpg

That is very neat. I do the same thing only using different type of pot. I don't cut off the old growth. I put syrofoam peanuts around it. Sometimes it grows plants from the originall plant.
I will have to get some of those planters. they are perfect.
Thanks Jason

Neat! I like those pots! I actually would use them for cymbs too. Phrags generally just hate me. Although I have a few that are...well...not dying. If my phrags live long enough to actually climb up a rhizome, yes I would buy some of these pots.

What did you do with the old growths?

That is so cool! :cool: Thanks Jason!

P.S. I really like your purple gloves!

Wow...that is pretty neat...thnx

Yes Teresa, with my purple nitrile surgery gloves I am an official orchid doctor! They really are the best gloves you can use when repotting.

I'm with Teresa about the gloves! :urock:

/Cheers I

Interesting solution Jason. I first saw those pots when I bought vireyas from a nursery in Oregon. Many plants prefer deep pots like that and they surely drain well. Of course nurseries are littered with deep pots over here! How do you keep it from falling over? That's my one gripe with extra tall pots.

Tom

Ah yes, falling over... In this case it seems to have a large enough base that it does not tip easily. However, I'd recommend a heavy substrate just for the bottom 1/3 of the pot, such as lava rock or aquarium gravel. The added weight will keep the plant situated. I've seen the wire holder they make in Japan for the shunran pots. I wish we had those here!

Hi Jason.

You moved the pictures! Is there a possibility of you putting them back up, or making this into a PDF avaialable on your web site? Did you guys ever start stocking these pots? I found them here:

Link (http://www.stuewe.com/products/treepots.html)

I assume the minimum order is hundreded or thousands of pots, especially to Canada. I need 20.

Kyle

Hi Jason.

You moved the pictures! Is there a possibility of you putting them back up, or making this into a PDF avaialable on your web site? Did you guys ever start stocking these pots? I found them here:

Link (http://www.stuewe.com/products/treepots.html)

I assume the minimum order is hundreded or thousands of pots, especially to Canada. I need 20.

Kyle

Hi, I found mini tree pots on that same website they looked pretty interesting.

regards, m