Creeping Phalenopsis

[wolf71758]

Thanks for the idea of a heavy clay pot, that would keep it firmly grounded.
guyos

Or set current plastic container into clay pot for stability. It is what I do since I like to be able to check roots/moisture below surface.
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[78Terp]

Or set current plastic container into clay pot for stability. It is what I do since I like to be able to check roots/moisture below surface.
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That is what I do. The plastic pot is sitting inside the clay pot.

[Carolla]

I've done that too, as long as there is good drainage in both pots, it worked great. In some of my non-orchids, I've put a good sized rock on one side to anchor tippy plants too. Not so sure about that with the orchids though.

[coeruleo]

ok, here's the thing, your orchid is 'creeping' towards the light. i call it 'reaching for the sun' personally, as basically the plant is trying to position it's leaves to get the most light. for people who grow indoors near a window, this is a natural growth pattern, as without the light coming directly overhead as it would outdoors, the plant will position itself at an angle towards the window. if you had better overhead lighting, this can almost be eliminated. some people will regularly turn their plant around so it appears to be growing more upright. but in the wild, most orchids are not growing in a perfect spot, and certainly not in a pot, but actually clinging to the side of a tree trunk, so the sideways growing is perfectly normal. and as someone else pointed out, growing sideways like this helps to keep water from pooling in the crown and causing a rot. the ones i have mounted into an artificial tree truck all grow sideways, reaching towards the window, and at first i thought it odd, being used to perfectly grown plants coming from nurseries with overhead light or even grow lights, but in time i got used to it, and now it really seems very natural to me.

once a plant has grown this way, if you turn it, the leaves will slowly try to shift towards the light again over time, but in my opinion this makes them look messy. also i think it takes some of the plants strength to try to correct itself back to the light source again, so i avoid re-positioning them.

[OrchisAmor]

coeruleo. The angle of growth is dictated by the direction of light in all plants. If you look close at many house plants, the same thing will happen with them as they 'seek the sun' if they are consistently left in the same position. I think it's just more apparent with orchids. I tend to re-pot mine Phals in the middle, but then let them do as they wish when they are growing.

[coeruleo]

sure. a lot of house plants can occasionally be turned around to make them seem more full and bushy. i do that with several. orchids are tougher, and more slow growing, and i think moving them about bothers them to some degree that makes it not worth moving them around in my opinion.

[Catt Mandu]

I have a large NOID "creeper", I just let it lean out of the pot.
Since it is a NOID and doesn't have a name, maybe I should call it Eileen??

[78Terp]

Good one!