How tightly do you pack your medium?

[peeweelovesbooks]

I pack the medium pretty tightly. I'm not used to moss so I tend to pack rather loosely to begin with, but then the plants remain too wobbly.

So, I'm starting to learn to pack tighter. All the nurseries I've gone to pack the moss in tightly.

As far as LECA is concerned, well, I tie the plants if they don't have a sufficiently robust root system and then pot rather compactly. I first start with a plastic mesh at the bottom so that the hydroton does not come out of the bottom, then put a small layer of hydroton and splay the roots as much as possible. Then I start putting in the hydroton and tap the pots on the table every time I add hydroton.

I jiggle the plant to make sure that it's not wobbly, and if it is, I start over.

[silken]

Well, I have some re-potting to do, so I will try to pack things more tightly (shudder). I have seen demos where they do that too, but I am more timid when it comes to re-potting.

[RobS]

I'm a tapper with all plants from Pleurothallis alliance to Cattleya's. To help get the medium between the roots. Hold the plant upside down put the medium between the roots put the the pot over the roots and medium and then turn around. Especially with small plants this works very well. For large plants tapping is usually sufficient. I don't see how you can compress bark anyhow.

[RJSquirrel]

what ever you choose moss, mix or mashed potatoes, its that what you plant should not wiggle nor fall out of the pot. the whole idea is to hold the plants roots still. so in fact you do have to pack bark charcoal and sponge rock mixes tighter but no so tight as to crush the sponge rock. sponge rock is airspace. you smash the sponge rock you are losing air space.
I prefer moss bec you just make a nice little moss ball around the roots a tad larger than the pot and smash it in..done..you can dink with bark chunks and charcoal all day long looking for the right pieces to shove into a corner to keep the plant from teetering. knock over that nice plant you just spent 20 minutes potting up and your nice bark and charcoal is all over the floor.Start over..Knock a moss planted orchid over you just pick up and put it back..look for the easy button..

[RobS]

It's a without a question that a plant should be stable in the pot but I never have problems with that if the plant has sufficient roots. If there is a lack of roots then with any technique or medium you need to ad supports.

[Kelo]

Originally Posted by help

im not as rough with phals as catts. the catts can handle it. i start out gently, but them i get ticked off and start going hard :P i start by gently getting as much media as i can, then i go into the places where there are no surface roots and press hard. then add new pieces one at a time into the crevice i made

That's what I do too but I don't spare the phals lol.

[Paul]

Not terribly tightly. I find that plants stay too wet too long for me if I do.

[silken]

Originally Posted by Paul

Not terribly tightly. I find that plants stay too wet too long for me if I do.

Well, there is that issue too. what about air pockets for the roots?? If it is extremely tight it might as well be soil-not???

[jrhennek]

I will first make sure that the pot is full of media and inbetween all the roots by tapping on the sides of the pot before I start to so call pack the media. I only use my thumbs to press down the media and put on a final topping. I have seen some people use sticks to pack the media in and yes I also cringe at that. There is probly know right or wrong way to do the repotting. I think that what ever works for you may not work for some one else, so if you like the way your plants are growing then I say keep repotting that way.

[got ants]

It all depends on what type of orchids I'm potting. And let me preface this by noting I grow outdoors 365, with shade, and open to rain. AND, I live in south Florida where monsson rains of a week or more is not uncommon.

With catts, I use a mix of charcoal, leca or staylite, sponge rock, and maybe CHC, in traditional clay pots.

With oncidiums, I use more bark mix, and in baskets, some are plastic.

Other genera generally in mostly bark mixes.

Catts are packed hard, oncidiums medium, and others loosely.

On all plants, it is imperative the once repotted, the plant does not move at all. This may mean more rhizome clips, or even wired down into the pot/basket. The litimous test is lifting the plant by the leaves and having the pot stay on. Once new root growth starts, any movement of the plant with impede it, so no movement is best.