Well, Bruse the reason I say that they are not underpoted in nature is because its basicly true. Now you are absolutely correct in saying the roots go and find little noocks and crannys, but its not like the entire root ball is rootbound. There was a discusion on anohter forum about this, and a guy was going experments by overpotting some plants. They put off less arial roots and seem to do fine too. We kind of force the plant to go arial by not giving it enough pot room. Now I know that your not going to keep some orchids in a pot no matter how are you try, but if you think about it the medium in the pot simulates those little nooks and crannys your talking about in the wild witht he space inbetween the medium. Underpotting is a big issue when it comes to growing semihydro too. Since the roots can literaly fill all the nooks and choke itself off if left in semihydro for so long without the roots being disturbed. Its good for the first few years After being there for a while and never disturbing the roots the plant can become choked. I don;t have a problem with mounting an orchid if the orchid will do better. I have plenty of mounts as it is so more isn't anymore of a chore to maintain. I just think that sometimes we do things because it is what everyone says is the right thing, but sometimes its not nessisarily true. I take what people say as a guideline not as gospel. Also think about it from this point too. Some mounts do not have all the nnoks and crannys for the roots to go into and those plants bloom fine too. So not to totaly discount your take on it, I just think that its not as detramental as its being put. Overpotting I don;t think is as bad as some people make it out to be. Some of the main reasons I have heard for not overpotting is not for the plants sake, but for the growers. It take more medium for larger pots and if there is not roots in the entire pot it can be a waste. The bigger pots hold moisture longer since the roots are not absorbing the water, and they take up more space. So that right there is the reason I think many people do not overpot, but it has been turned into oh the plantws do better underpotted. So I duno the correct answer. I know the reported best answer and I know the accepted answer, but are they really the accurate answer as far as the plant is concerned, or does it work so its assumed to be correct. There is alot of variables I think. Thats why I stress that everythin any orchid grower tells you on how to grow an orchid should only be looked at as a guideline and not the concrete way to do it. Since what works for me may not work for you, but the advice give a guideline on where to start, but needs to be tweeked for your conditions and grow style.