Why is it waking up? Monnierara millennium magic

[Maru777]

Thank you everyone !!! This has greatly put my mind at ease! Sounds like an early rising season in the catasetum world for everyone. Hopefully this will result in good growth this year. Fingers crossed!

I wish I had seen the video on youtube linked into the catasinae section before because mine is really wrinkly and I would have watered it before it got growing - but will know for next year The one that got back to being plump was such an interesting surprize. Too late now for mine, but I think it should be ok for a while longer, the roots are already pretty long so I think I will not need to wait too much longer before I can water. But I’ll leave it as long as I can - my patience will run out before the plant’s resources, that’s for sure. Great video and information! And great advice as always from everyone on this forum! Thank you!

[Maru777]

I’ve been watching this plant for a while now trying to be patient and not water it too soon. But the old bulbs look kind of bad and wrinkly so I was wondering if it is time for me to start giving it some water. It is still growing some new root tips but has some roots that burrowed into the medium already, although I have no idea how long they are because I cannot see them Thoughts?

[isurus79]

Those back bulbs have at least 6 weeks of energy left in them. I'd think about watering in mid March.

[Roberta]

If it were my plant, I would start watering lightly. That second flush of roots (after the first group has elongated enough to be digging into the medium) says that you're pretty much at the start of watering. Don't over-do it (a bit of water around the edges should be OK). But it is better to wait a bit than to be too early. Advice from Isurus79 is good - the plant will forgive you for waiting a bit.

[Clawhammer]

Probably safer in your area to begin watering than it would be in most... I would try to waiting another couple weeks though, the plant will be fine and roots really start to get going right about this size.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by Maru777

I’ve been watching this plant for a while now trying to be patient and not water it too soon. But the old bulbs look kind of bad and wrinkly so I was wondering if it is time for me to start giving it some water. It is still growing some new root tips but has some roots that burrowed into the medium already, although I have no idea how long they are because I cannot see them Thoughts?

In your region ----- which is currently generally warm -- 24 degrees C and above --- it is absolutely fine to water the orchid now. You don't necessarily need to saturate the media. You can just spray water onto the roots and media. Nothing bad is going to happen. All during the dormancy time ---- for all of my dormant catasetum plants --- which includes the Monn. ---- I purposely kept watering them with watering spray. And they all came out of dormancy - growing leaves - and roots ----- absolutely no problem. This is in a warm temperature region --- and with air movement in the growing area. This was done for both large AND small catasetum orchids. No problem.