Another tray culture experiment

[richgarrison]

@tomkalina has such great luck with this, so when I was repotting this besseae that was throwing two new stolons out if it's pot, I figured it was worth a try...


These mesh bottom trays are awesome for drainage. But also for using wires to pull the jumping growths back into the mix...

Thanx to Tom for the idea.

Stay healthy everyone!

(Yeah besseae!!! ? . )

 

[KateL]

Interesting. Thanks for the post.

 

[Don I]

It is interesting.
Don

 

[Djthomp28]

Thanks for sharing, Richard. And for the tray culture, Tom.

I need to give this a try.

 

[tomkalina]

That's actually a net bottomed 4 inch square pot that we use as a compot for seedlings coming out of flask. The net bottom trays we use for growing the adult Phrag. besseaes are the 10" x 20" size. See photo for one of these. Not sure where we got these, but you might try Orchids, Ltd. Originally, they were made by the late Joe Kunisch of Bloomfield Orchids.

 

[NYEric]

More water.

 

[tomkalina]

More roots.

 

[abax]

I found a garden center tray and I have two orchids in
which I want to try the tray culture. The only problem
I see is drainage and keeping the medium in the tray.
The holes aren't very big, but I don't want the medium
all over the gh floor. Any suggestions appreciated. I use
a loose layer of coco fiber in my Phal. baskets and have
no idea if that might work with Phrags.

 

[Ozpaph]

Drill holes on tray. Place a layer of shade cloth across the bottom. Works in wood slat baskets, too.

 

[abax]

The tray already has holes. Thank you Oz! I wish I'd
thought of that.

 

[tomkalina]

Speaking of tray culture, here's a photo of our Phrag. besseae fma flavum 'D'Oro' 4N growing in it's tray. The largest leaf on the left has a 20 inch leaf span. When we grew this in a 6 inch azalea pot, the leaf span never got more than 14 inches across. .

 

[abax]

That plant looks extremely happy and healthy. Adore that
bloom!

 

[Silverwhisp]

When I decided to try the tray method, I wanted something shorter than the standard garden center tray. I found an 11x14x3 bonsai forest tray on eBay; worked great. I recently repotted my besseae to a large plastic bulb pan, which makes it easier to use a saucer underneath.