Watering Catelleyas ?

[TRANCEBOY]

Overwatering is my biggest fear. I have changed all the ladies to baskets and special mix from their i was watering once a week. Funny thing is i dont like philenopsis orchids to much and for some reason they are all spiking and growing out of control.

This leads me to a second question. When placed in baskets should the roots all be covered in bark or should they be left mostly out.? Right now im covering to the top. This makes it a little tought to see the roots though

[tucker85]

Originally Posted by TRANCEBOY

Overwatering is my biggest fear. I have changed all the ladies to baskets and special mix from their i was watering once a week. Funny thing is i dont like philenopsis orchids to much and for some reason they are all spiking and growing out of control.

This leads me to a second question. When placed in baskets should the roots all be covered in bark or should they be left mostly out.? Right now im covering to the top. This makes it a little tought to see the roots though

Are you talking about phalaenopsis in baskets? Are they wood or plastic baskets? What medium are you using? You don't need to cover all the roots but cover as many as possible. If it's a phal, you'll need to mist the exposed roots pretty often to keep the plant hydrated.

Most books recommend that you should try new culture techniques on one or two plants at a time. You really shouldn't change all your orchids over at once until you see what the results will be.

[TRANCEBOY]

hI TUCKER ... i am using better grow special orchid mix and philanopsis mix for the philanopsis. Only difference i see between one and the other is that the phil mix has more moss.

Aside from that i have moved 85 percent of the girls to wooden baskets from better gro.

I did this 2 months ago when the bug bit me. My mother had many orchids and all where in bad shape.

Non of the orchids are in moss as ive noticed that stays to wet. I was only watering the orchids once a week and the philenopsis are looking amazing. The catts on the other hand are outside under trees and the psudobulbs have shrunk. I am going to start water 2 days a week to see if they do better. I do have to say that the road has been slow for the catts who where in really bad shape. Many where hydrated but bearly had healthy roots. Plus most had ants and god nows what on them.

Lets just say its been work saving them all but so awesome when you start seeing roots all over

[Stray59]

TRANCEBOY:
I have read some really good tips here myself - I have heard of some, but forgotten them; other's are brand new to me.
James-mickelso has a really good idea by testing the weight both wet and dry; in time, you will determine exactly how fast the medium dries under varying conditions, telling when to water.
Tucker has a point about the medium and trying out different ones to find one that suits your personal culture. I used Better-Gro orchid mix, both the types you describe, and found it a good mix for my house at the time. When I moved into my new apartment, the medium would not stay wet long enough so I had to move to a coco chunk / sphagnum moss mix. It works great here, but would have rotted my orc's my lost home.
I love the looks of orchids in the wooden basket, which is what Better-Gro sells if I am not mistaked - they can really show the plants and blooms off well; your collection must look great. I don't plant my phalae's in baskets because they often need to be re-potted so often. As you know, the phalae's will form aerial roots as it grows upward and as Tucker said when too many are out of the medium, you need to re-pot; otherwise the plant will not get enough moisture. Personally, I prefer placing-slower growing orchids that don't require re-potting as often in baskets; a really healthy orchid that has decide to grapple onto the slats is almost always damaged trying to remove it. Baskets are sort of like slabs that way; once an orchid attaches to it, IT IS THERE. That why my basket orchids will have to BUST out of wooden slats!! I have tangled with toooooo many medusa-like root balls, stuck like super glue to a piece of wood, to want to mess with trying to detach another one!
Again, when you can, post some pics - your collection sounds great!
Steve

[keithrs]

If you have a good root system.... Remove the media that you can without harming the roots. No real need for media. It is what will cause most if not all your rot problems with your roots. You will need to water them like a rainstorm. Several good drenchings at each watering. Water 2-5x a week with 3-4 good drenchings. Fertilize at very low concentrations(1/16 tsp per gal) at every watering if possible. Preferably with MSU or K-Lite. If your night temps get below 55 than make sure you water early so the roots dry out. Also if your using tap water be on the look out for black root tips... A sign that your water has too high of salt concentrations(too hard of water or too much fert.). At that point you will want to mix your water with rain water or Ro, Or adjust your fertilizer.

I also suggest you de-chlorinate your water too.

[TRANCEBOY]

WOW AWESOME KEITH. As you know ive only been doing this for 2 months so basically every day i learn something new. I was only watering once a week and now have started to do 2 times a week. the mix gets dry in the baskets quickly. My idea was to keep the orchids in the mix for a little while and then slowly begin to remove. I was thinking 3 monts from now?

Most of the cats where in bad shape from the lady i bought them from . They where super damn and the roots where bad. In fact one has a yellow leaf which i hope is normal since many of the roots in that one had been rotted.
I do have another question. My mother had a huge huge catt that has never been removed from the basket she came in. The basket is big but the media it was planted on seens to be super old. Should i attemt to remove her. She was getting eaten by ants and god knows what . all those problems are now gone.. knock on wood

[tucker85]

Originally Posted by TRANCEBOY

hI TUCKER ... i am using better grow special orchid mix and philanopsis mix for the philanopsis. Only difference i see between one and the other is that the phil mix has more moss.

Aside from that i have moved 85 percent of the girls to wooden baskets from better gro.

I did this 2 months ago when the bug bit me. My mother had many orchids and all where in bad shape.

Non of the orchids are in moss as ive noticed that stays to wet. I was only watering the orchids once a week and the philenopsis are looking amazing. The catts on the other hand are outside under trees and the psudobulbs have shrunk. I am going to start water 2 days a week to see if they do better. I do have to say that the road has been slow for the catts who where in really bad shape. Many where hydrated but bearly had healthy roots. Plus most had ants and god nows what on them.

Lets just say its been work saving them all but so awesome when you start seeing roots all over

I'm glad to hear that you're seeing new roots. With the cattleyas the goal is to get a good root system established. Luckily it will be spring in a couple of months and the cattleyas should start new growth and more roots then. The nice thing about baskets is that the roots last for years and it's possible to grow some really strong plants. What kind of fertilizer are you using and what are the three numbers on the formula?

[tucker85]

Originally Posted by TRANCEBOY

I do have another question. My mother had a huge huge catt that has never been removed from the basket she came in. The basket is big but the media it was planted on seens to be super old. Should i attemt to remove her. She was getting eaten by ants and god knows what . all those problems are now gone.. knock on wood

If you could post a picture of this plant, it would help. Unfortunately large cattleyas get a lot of their strength from the fact that they're so big with lots of leaves for photosynthesis and lots of pseudobulbs to store water and nutrients. It would almost be impossible to remove it without damaging the plant and cutting it up into divisions. Unless the wood basket itself is falling apart, I think I would leave the orchid in it. Cattleyas growing in baskets often have lots of roots on the outside of the basket and deteriorating medium in the center is not as much of a problem as it would be in a pot. Some growers here in South Florida have old cattleyas that have completely grown around the outside and the basket isn't even visible anymore.

[keithrs]

Originally Posted by TRANCEBOY

WOW AWESOME KEITH. As you know ive only been doing this for 2 months so basically every day i learn something new. I was only watering once a week and now have started to do 2 times a week. the mix gets dry in the baskets quickly. My idea was to keep the orchids in the mix for a little while and then slowly begin to remove. I was thinking 3 monts from now?

If your roots are in bad shape, then yes leave the plants in a coarse mix with high humidity. Humidity being the important part. I would also recommend removing any bad roots and repotting if you have not done so. Wait intel you have a good root system before shaking the media out of the baskets. I like to use hygromite or broken terra cotta pot as media to get plants going. It will not decomposes and cause problems if you can't shake it out down the road.

Most of the cats where in bad shape from the lady i bought them from . They where super damn and the roots where bad. In fact one has a yellow leaf which i hope is normal since many of the roots in that one had been rotted.
I do have another question. My mother had a huge huge catt that has never been removed from the basket she came in. The basket is big but the media it was planted on seens to be super old. Should i attemt to remove her. She was getting eaten by ants and god knows what . all those problems are now gone.. knock on wood

The only thing I would recommend would be to turn the basket upside down and shake it while holding the plant(you may need two people) to get the media out. If the plant comes out in the process then just clean it up(remove the all media and rotted roots) and stick her back in the basket if its in good shape. Then give it a good dunk in physan 20.

Liquid kelp is a great way to get your root system happy. I also recommend using beneficial bacteria/trichoderma products like Sub Culture B or Rootshield. I have found it to be very beneficial at protecting plants from rots.

I will also stress... Use lite amounts of fertilizer. You'll just end up wasting it as most washes away in your feed water. I have lowered my feed from 125 ppm N down to 15 ppm N with K-Lite with every watering. I have also started to flush the plants especially the ones that are in media once a week.

Go a head and pot up your Phal in a basket as well! Hygromite should work well! If the humidity is high enough you can water it with your Catts. They don't need as much water as most think. I have mine in a 4" pot with #5 orchiata and LECA and I water it when I remember too! (about once a week)

I like mounting/basket culture when I can because it is very conducive to a great root systems.

I'll also add that terra cotta pots work well too with no media or just broken TC to stabilize the plant.

This is how I grow... You can use or lose what you will as everyone has different condition and adjustment will be made. I just encourage you to experiment(on cheap plants) to find what works for you.

[keithrs]

Originally Posted by tucker85

Some growers here in South Florida have old cattleyas that have completely grown around the outside and the basket isn't even visible anymore.

That's the beauty of baskets! I love specimen Catts!