Looking down into the pot, one can see the size of the rocks and the roots forming around them. The tag, by the way is from Howard Gunn and wife, a fine gentleman and great orchid grower in the Sacramento area who just recently died at advanced age. I remember him fondly.

Nick

In this picture you can see me suspending the plant and pot by one of the pbulbs. Since it is rock,it is a little heavy but the roots have bound everything together so that one can do this. If I turn the pot upside down, nothing falls out. I will show a couple of more plants, all of them can be held up by the plant.

Nick

Here is a Laelia Bonnie Bonita.

Looking down into it's pot, the same idea is demonstrated. There are more rocks there than are visible. Also note the 'Pot in a Pot' concept commonly used by SBOE where this plant originated. I also have adopted that and it works well with the large rocks which are used to space the different pots and lend weight and therefore stability to the plant.

Nick

A cat type, don't know the name right now, my daughters have hauled the plant away but it shows the same concept.

Here is looking into it's pot. Note the ample space between these large rocks allowing for plenty of air and also drainage.

One last one, a C Portia type, flowers not yet fully open but again shows the concept of growing.

The pot demonstrating the 'Pot in a 'Pot in a Pot' concept and the use of the large rocks. Sorry about the focus.

The other side of this pot.

Summing it up, I think this is an excellent way of growing plants with heavy roots like the Cattleya types. It works well for me in my environment and is suitable for my watering habits. I'm a heavy handed waterer and drown plants in bark. This may not work for other situations and I certainly don't imply that it is a superior way of growing them. It's just another and different way.

When I give our orchids 101 lecture and show newbies example of sphagnum moss, bark, coconut and then my large rocks, they look at me as if I was crazy. But then I show them a few plants and they take note.

I like it because you don't ever have to repot, only up pot which is easy. Drop the plant in a larger pot and stabilize with a handful of rocks squeezed between the walls of the pots. Further more you cannot overwater plants growing like this. Remember, it does not rain in California, It pours, man, it pours. I have seen 2 weeks of almost daily rain.
These plants grow outside and have no protection from the weather except the shade cloth. They can handle this kind of moisture, a plant in a pot full of bark cannot.

The disadvantage is that rock does not retain moisture. In the summer heat I have to water them more often, 2 to 3 times a week. When we are up in the 90s I water them every day. A plant in a pot full of bark does not need that frequent watering. I don't mind but others do. SBOE also does something along these lines for some of their plants.

Nick

Hi Nick,

I find orchid growing in rocks very interesting.I live in Fl, zone 10 and realize bark breaks down rapidly in my climate.I have a few orchids growing in lava rocks and clay pellets and I don't repot.When the orchid starts growing over the sides of the pot I just cut off the the piece and I pot it up and I have another orchid to add to my collection.I have alot of coral rocks in my area.Do you think they could work as a growing medium for my orchids?

Allymarie

James Rose from Cal Orchids once said "You can grow them in absolutely anything, the key to success is appropriate watering for the stuff you grow them in". I tried lava rock once and found it retained too much water in all the little air pockets it has. At least that was the case for the lave rock I could get. I don't know if the same is true for coral rock.

The rock part is fine, just wondering how much water it retains. You could weigh 25 lbs of it, soak it, weigh it again and then weigh it 3 days later. All you need to do is to water accordingly. Orchid Zone in Carmela, a great grower, grows everything in lava rock.

Nick

allymarie
Would be concerned that coral rock would be too alkaline?? They often use it to boost pH in marine aquariums. Most of my orchids are now on trees so mostly use no media at all lol. Those keep in pots I use lava rock but it's sooo heavy lol so use a layer of styrofoam . Have noted that during periods of high humidity it will condense even in winter. Doesn't seem to be much of a problem ?? gary

Hi,

Thanks so much Nick and Gary for your advice.I didn't think of the ph in coral. I do have some on a few trees but most are in pots on benches.I'll just stick with the lava rocks and clay pellets.

Allymarie

Hi,

Thanks so much Nick and Gary for your advice.I didn't think of the ph in coral. I do have some on a few trees but most are in pots on benches.I'll just stick with the lava rocks and clay pellets.

Allymarie

I have used rock in NY with pretty good results. I am a poor waterer and found it difficult growing indoors over winter due to the dry air. The few plants I kept in rock, I put some sphag over the top during the winter months.

Florida doesn't really have any rock. I have bought some shale pieces at an orchid show. I like using it here but it only comes in small pieces. I also worry about pH changes so would stay away from coral.

Nick do you know what type of rock you are using?

Jane

What I use is called 'Sonoma Gold' see:

https://www.google.com/search?q=sonoma+gold+decorative+rock&client=firefox-a&hs=u1g&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=fflb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=EgecUtvADpfZoASnv4KoCg&ved=0CFAQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=604

I found it in Sacramento and bought a bunch of it. Any rock will really do, I use this one because it is light, about 1/2 the weight of granite. I have never seen it sold anywhere else other than in northern California.

Nick

Nick, Have you tried Clay Pebbles?

ive currently got 2 Speciosums planted in those my Rhys Gigantea and Retusa seem to enjoy those more then Bark medium lol

Yes I haven't seen any here in the UK in flower from members via Facebook or so but After coming across pictures of them I was keen to get a few of the plants and try them out Not easy to get a hold of either

Atm I have about 5 Speciosums 3x small seedlings in bark medium in clear pots those are (flinders, grandiflorum and curvicaule) and I've also 2 much bigger ones (unsure what they are tags just say Speciosum and will have white flowers)

the larger plants were planted in poor bark medium so I decided to try clay pebbles so far they seem to be ok in that

The only thing that troubles me is knowing that our British winters over here are often horrendous temps going down to -1C I just hope they will be ok, I have them indoors on my kitchen window currently so I hope they don't croak on me

Try using a few lights over the winter. Might push things along.

Jane

Lol thanks Jane my plants are a long long way of from blooming but still they are growing nicely quite quick too ☺️