Orchid Pots

[Bretts]

Hey Guys a member asked me out of the blue if I knew where to get these orchid pots. As I stated I have always got mine of Ray but I know he is never keen on posting stuff so I had a look around and hit what I think is the jack pot.
http://www.orchidpotco.com/index.htm
I emailed these guys for cost of 10, 300mm orchid pots delivered to my door and the price was $39.80. Considering the pickup price is around $5 per pot I don't think we can beat this
Enjoy
I have used the easy orchids that Joel suggested and can recommend them also but they don't seem to have this style of pot!
They are the only place that I have seen stock the NZ spag moss though

[Josh7]

That really is a great price, Brett.
I used to live in Port Macquarie where the Orchid Pot Co is, but wasn't into bonsai then. They might do door sales cheaper..... I'll get my sister who still lives there to find out.

[Ash]

Anyone can bulk order 'Orchid Pots' direct from the supplier Mr John Howell, 21 Jambil Road Port MacQuarie, New South Wales 2444. You can obtain a catalogue and order- the most usefull size for a bonsai grower is the 300 mm port pot. I have used these pots for at least twelve years and still have the originals. The go slightly grey with age but not one has decayed on me yet. The loose mesh bottom is best crocked or screened for bonsai. If you are in north Queensland and wish to purchase them individually you can obtain them from "Alices Orchids" in Kelso Townsville or from "Nuleaf" in Little Spence Street in Cairns.
regards
Ash

[Josh7]

Ash,
Like Brett, i just emailed John and he sent me a price list. 300mm individual pots are $2.60 ea or $2.30 ea per 1000. Much better than paying $5+ per pot. There's no way i'm going to need 1000, but hypothetically if you purchased 20 pots from John, the savings would be appx $40, depending on the postage costs.
I'm not a miser, but i am frugal, so if i can get better value for money, i will (same with the recent tool order by Leigh)!
This may be worth doing a bulk order to go to each capital city or rural centres just in time for spring repotting?

[FlyBri]

If you are worried about U.V. decay you can purchase the pots from the following link. I have not used them, but i have been told they are completely U.V. resistant. They are not an attractive colour but hey, they are 30cm wide and cheap.

http://www.easyorchids.com/shop/details ... pack-of-12

The same site sells other items that may be useful, including other pots and sizes, as well as fertiliser baskets.

Gday folks!

Got home this evening to find that my order of 12 green mesh pots and about 25(?) fert baskets had arrived. The mesh pots are ugly as a half sucked mango, and I am truly doubtful of their UV stability*, but they are very sturdy. The fert baskets seem to be good, but these are the first I ever laid my hands on so I cannot make a fair judgement. If anything, their spikes are too long for a shallow Bonsai pot, but I don't need to worry about that for another 10 years or so...

Collanders dont work well in our climate imo...

I have an idea Antonio, but it will have to wait until the morrow...

Thanks.

Fly.

* The mesh pots are labelled "Made In Thailand" and are very cheap. The thinner bits of the mouldings are transparent. I will be surprised if they are UV stable, but promise to do an experiment to test them.

[Bretts]

I have two or three of the mesh pots a couple of years ago from easy orchid Fly and they are good quality. Maybe I got a differnt sought than you I will take a pic tomorrow!

[Gerard]

Thanks for this,
I have followed up and contacted John, yesterday my pots arrived. I am tired of using poly boxes, the white colour rubs off onto my clothing and they take a lot of soil to fill. My day has been spent repotting trees from poly boxes into orchid pots lots more work to do but these will be much neater in my yard.
Price was really good even after paying freight, nursery levy and GST

[John Henry]

Gerard good to see you have been hard at work.
John m

[Graeme]

Looks like i'm in the market for Orchid Pots and U.V resistant Collanders. The wife is getting sick of and ugly plant setup, so i guess uniforming the containers on smaller trees is a good start (i'll never get rid of styro boxes though!).

I have started painting my Styro boxes. Use water based paint, which is available in Mission Brown, similar colour to an unglased Japanese/Chinese Bonsai Pot. Tends to allow them to meld into the background and they last longer as well.

Sorry to highjack the thread.

[cutejai]

since we are on orchid pot, just throwing something off my head to discus.
the result of growing in 300mm orchid pots vs ground growing on tile, do you think they will produce the same result?

this is what I have in mind, purely theory based without any experience, so hoping for advice/discussion from someone who has more experience or perhaps have tried this before by growing young plant in orchid pot with great nebari.

I'm think growing in orchid pot is a good way to create more compact root, but not so good for nebari development compare to ground growing on tile.
when growing in orchid pots, imagine all roots are growing out at the same time, but once the surface roots hit the pot rim it will slow down letting buttom roots take lead and anchoring on the ground result in less nebari and thicker vertical roots. whereas ground growing on tile would produce reverse effect where vertical roots would slow down once they hit the tile letting surface roots take lead and stretch to thicken.

the third method I could think of would be to purposely raise the plant above the pot making sure the surface root is above the pot rim creating an environment to slow down vertical and let surface root take lead.

or perhaps the fourth method would be to grow on tile inside orchid pot? umm,,,

[Gerard]

I have no more ground in which to plant
But orchid pots are great if you wish to prune and/or wire while at the same time getting good growth.
Very large trees might be restricted in orchid pots.
At my place ground planting is a 3-5 year plan.
Orchid pots are on a 1-2 year plan.
And are a good transition for trees having a reduction in pot size and root mass.

[SteveW]

The orchid pots are manufactured in Port Macquarie: The Orchid Pot Co (02) 6581 1735
21 Jambali Rd, Port Macquarie NSW 2444

[RuthMcL]

Canberra Bonsai Society buys orchid pots in bulk from The Orchid Pot Co (http://www.orchidpotco.com ). This year we ordered both 300mm and 200mm. They do need to be lined, at least until the root system can hold the mix together. I use fly screen left over from a DYI screening project but paper, shade cloth or old sheeting also work. Fly screen and shade cloth are best at keeping out slaters if that is a problem for you.

[cre8ivbonsai]

Do you need to line them with anything? The mesh looks too open to hold soil/diatomite/whatever.

Glenda

Yes I find until the Diatomite settles then it keeps leaking out when you move the pot

That is why I usually lay a layer of Scoria in the bottom first. When I can get it I by bags of 100 graded Scoria and line the bottom of the pots then add Diatomite mix

Ken

Have to agree with you Ken, a layer of scoria is probably the best solution I've found for any pots or grow boxes deep enough (just make sure you rinse first otherwise you'll end up with red mud all over the place ). Otherwise stick to plastic meshing. One of the worst inherited jobs I've had to do is cutting an elm's roots free from flywire - the roots had begun to grow into and around the (partially rusting) flywire causing possible infection and disease. I've also found that shadecloth tends be too fine holding water and causing root rot (however this may depend on how free-draining your mix is too )
These are all just from my experience in melbourne climate sooo... (ie results may vary )

Ryan