cattleya fustration

[james mickelso]

I see nice healthy new buds breaking at the base of some of the bbulbs in your pics. That is what you want to nurture. They are next seasons flowers depending on the species. Are you sure they are catts or could they be LC's or slc's or blc's? It makes a difference. Do you know the name of the orchids? The parentage? All of this info is important if you want to get the very best from them. The basics are 70-80 degrees day time and 60-65 at night. Depending of course on the parentage. Most prefer a good drenching and then let them dry out completely. That is why you want a course mix. Wynne, is your spag packed tightly or just loose? I have trouble here at the beach with too much moisture when I use anything other than medium bark. I buy the hard pine bark. I also use lava cinder from a volcano I drive by going up to the sierra. I never have trouble with salt build up. But then again I use RO or distilled water. If I leave anything I get planted in spag, it is dead in a month. So maybe you can shed some light on youyr methods.