Pot sizes.
 

Not wishing to start a fight, but I keep seeing people post that certain orchids do better in a small pot.

Is this true? Ignore the fact that in smaller pots you can pack more onto the bench. Is there any quantifiable evidence that shows they are better in small pots?

Again, fine media in a wide deep pot is a potential killer, but that's not the point, because a wide shallow pot won't have that problem.

iME, yes, roots, and the plant as a whole, do better in smaller pots.

I know you do quite well with very wide but shallow pots. Please correct me if I'm mistaken, but you mostly grow outdoors, right? You are essentially accomplishing the same thing with wide but shallow pots that I do with small pots; medium that has a chance to dry out between watering, less chance for decaying medium and roots. So, no need to argue, we have different means to achieve the same end. I have Phals growing in the same small terracotta pot, with bark, for 4+ years, still happy.

Due to indoor space limitations, there is no way that i could grow more than 15 or 20 plants by going wide and shallow.

When the grower says small pot and the web sites say small pot, I use one. I, like OW, can tell the difference in growth. But the point is the same.

I think that a lot of orchids would be most happy being mounted, not potted. But we pot them, and in part because most of us can't really duplicate the precise growing conditions the plant would prefer. In pots, I don't think the plant is as concerned about the size as it is about being secured. Wobbly potting is poor potting, I believe. If the plant is securely potted and the watering is properly adjusted to the media and pot size it's going to grow. Now, obviously I'm not saying pot a Zygostates in a 6" pot. Beyond that, larger pots give the plant more room to grow, while smaller ones allow the plant to produce more cool aerial roots.

The reason everyone will have a different answer for this is because everyone's growing environments are different.

First off, this is not about triggering an argument. I am seeking to learn, and see if there is a real, quantifiable advantage to small pots.
I do agree 100%, that fast drying between watering is the way to go. I have switched HEAVILY to mounts because of this, because there is a noticeable difference in root growth.
Also, there was a gardening programme, (not about orchids) where the presenter referred to the old idea of digging compost into the ground before planting a tree. He said that the current idea is that if the tree has compost too hand, it is less interested in sending out roots. Better by far to plant it in plain soil, then mulch with compost.
This is something that has in the past struck me, that where a plant has fast draining soil, and has to work for a living, the roots grow exponentially.

So, where the water isn't there for long periods, the orchid has to grab it and work for it, plus of course the window for fungus to become established is eliminated.

Mine are in a greenhouse roughly Nov to March included, so at least 5 months. The rest of the year, the hot ones stay in the greenhouse at 50% shade, and all the rest go to summer camp, outside under heavier shade.
Apart from the big phals, the Paphs, Phrags some of the den phlas and some catasetum are all in pots. Everything else is mounted. Where I can't mount properly, like the D nobile that are just too takk, tey are moving to holders that do not constrain roots, they sit in a saucer shaped disc of sphagnum, which, because it is open top and bottom to the air, dries out FAST, so fast that after a year, the Stans, which have the same system are happy and their moss hasn't broken down at all.
The question is, do orchids grow better in small pots? I haven't seen evidence that they do. I suspect that there isn't a great difference between them. I notice that in the plants I buy, usually the roots are jam packed in, often so badly that they get damaged on repotting, which is something I don't like. Plus, I get some plants where the pot is basically filled with a solid plug of roots (sometimes dead from suffocation) which to me compares badly with a nice open root structure.

As I say, I don't dispute that you can grow a orchid as well in a small pot as I can in a large one. The question is, is there an actual benefit that can be shown to cramming the roots into a small pot??

---------- Post added at 06:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:03 AM ----------

Oh, so you have tried wide shallow pots and noticed better growth in the small ones?? I do listen to what growers and other people say, but simply accepting what you are told, without questioning means that we risk passing on data to people which may not be accurate.

Bit like the ham joint recipe, or that classic "You mustn't get the crown of a phal wet!"

---------- Post added at 06:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:47 AM ----------

Let's face it. No matter which plant you grow, the closer you can get to their natural, wild state, the better the results will be.
Mount growing is, for epiphytes, the closest you will get to that.
We grow in pots, because it is a compromise, but as soon as we do, we risk media degradation, choking of media pores and root suffocation.

Let's face it, you can grow orchids almost anyhow. The question is, does a small pot give better growth? You can't just grow one in a small pot and say, "It grows well, so small is best!"
I'm looking to see whether someone can shw this to be a fact, or whether this is just another urban myth.

First of all, your program about trees was correct. Secondly in my former life, I had formal horticultural training. I will take advise and if it doesn't work, I stop doing it. I am fond of den Phals. I have had to pot large (due to the size of pot on hand) and I have been able to pot small...The smaller pots have grown best, while the larger languished. That is my experience.

I wish I knew, but I'm thinking of trying to over pot things as I am getting tiered of watering things every other day or every day. I have been watering my 4 inch catt's then leaving water in the saucers so they can soak it up and depending on how cold it is I am still watering them in 3 days. They are however doing better than when I was watering them every 2 days and not leaving water in the saucers. So perhaps a bigger pot would also help. I always put a couple of peanuts in the middle of the roots. Perhaps I will find out. But that would be in my conditions as I don't think most people have to water that much.

Funny as my house gets quiet cold during the night.

Interesting. What was the medium please in each case, and how deep were the large pots?

Small plants, 3" pots max on arrival. Medium bark. 4" azalea type clay pot vs 6" deeper clay.