Backwards SH?

[Bud]

I have the same experience with Jeff. I have purchased my olla from a seller in Phoenix, AZ and put a Phal. philippinensis seedling on one side and a stuartiana seedling on the other side....they were not doing so well and after 6 months so I decided to repot it the way my other Phals were potted and its growing happy and healthy now.
My olla is just standing idly in a corner at the moment until I find an orchid that will thrive in it....
*its irritating to keep on throwing the sweat water that accumulates in the pan; sometimes it overflows and makes a wet pool on the bench table.

[AnonYMouse]

Sickly stelis became straw. Not due to the olla but previous mishandling.

[MT-Phal]

This is interesting. I wonder if one could acquire or make a really big ball of PrimeAgra or Leca, and set in a bowl. Would be kinda funny!

[PaxTea]

I wonder if it would help to roughen the surface of the pot, or wrap it in fishnet, anything to provide some grip.

Those pots do look finicky, but very cool.

[AnonYMouse]

I think its a matter of finding the right plant in the right environment. Something that wants cool wet roots, if you were to make it self watering. Otherwise, keep the olla dry and treat it like a mounted plant.

I'm still experimenting.

[tucker85]

Originally Posted by PaxTea

I wonder if it would help to roughen the surface of the pot, or wrap it in fishnet, anything to provide some grip.

Those pots do look finicky, but very cool.

I was thinking the same thing. One of my phals grew very well on the olla even though it didn't attach. The sides of the pot are very smooth. Maybe a wire brush or coarse sand paper would rough it up enough. Or like you said, covering it with fishnet or something else. I may try one of those methods. Meanwhile I removed all my orchids from the ollas and put them on conventional mounts.

[AnonYMouse]

I think I might try my Dryadella. It wants to be cool to intermediate and watered regularly and I often forget. It also has finer roots.

[AnonYMouse]

The things you run into when suffering from insomnia. I found the site where the OP's pic came from. It's a Korean travel site.

[AnonYMouse]

Short story, gave up the previous attempts.

...About a year after the last post, I mounted a Neo onto an irrigation olla with some sphag. I played around a bit with watering (internal vs. external), temps (heat mat) and light. The surface grew slimy and moldy at times (adjust, adjust, adjust) and the new roots were sliding around. I gave up on the internal reservoir and treated it like any other mounted plant. It grew fans, I saw some new roots. I pretty much just let it be.

Fast forward to present, I saw this thread. I figured I might as well take a good look.



And with the sphag removed.


On the last pic, you can see all the short failed original roots. Hasn't bloomed for me yet (it has evidence of an old spike) but that's the last thing on my list for this experiment.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Well it sure looks to be happy finally. To bad the whole filling it with water doesn't work. But it looks really cool on there.