Many orchids have what is called sympodial growth, as shown by your two plants. They make (relatively) horizontal rhizomes, which are horizontal stems, with upright growths forming periodically. Roots typically form at the upright growths. The rhizome between growths may be very short to very long.
Many Coelogynes have long rhizomes between growths. People often pot them in very shallow but wide baskets or trays, using moss, bark or mixes. No matter what you do they eventually wander out of the pot. If you have adequate humidity and can water enough they grow fine dangling in the air.
Some sympodial orchids, like this Oncidium, have ascending rhizomes. They normally grow up tree boles or relatively vertical branches. Each new growth is above the previous. Most people try to repot these with the roots of the newest growth completely in the medium. This means old pseudobulbs are often buried fairly deeply. I suggest you remove this plant from the pot and repot it so the newest roots are in the medium. I think you will need to use a larger pot, probably twice the diameter of the one you have it in now. Leave enough horizontal space for two more growths of the width of the most recent.
In your climate pots with extra holes might dry out too fast, so you would need to water more often. I'm not a fan of that kind of pot other than in very, very humid and rainy climates. They are also good for people who can't stop watering their plants.
There is no one combination of best pot and best medium. It depends on the plant and the growing conditions. As you get experience you'll be able to predict how a given combination will do in your conditions, and you'll figure out which ones might not work so well.
Last edited by estación seca; 05-16-2024 at 12:09 AM..
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