Full or Semi-Water culture for a cattleya?

[DesignerofBeauty]

Hello Everyone,

Over the past few months, I've seen terrific progress on all of my orchids. I've got all of them to bloom (included my beloved Schoenorchis Fragrans which is in spike) except one orchid, my Cattleya Otaara Hwa Yuan Bay 'She Shu' AM/OROC. This orchid has gone through a lot, it was one of the first orchids I purchased. A little over a year ago, the orchid had under 10 roots that were less than 1 inch in length. A lot of its roots were lost to rot. Recently I had to repot this guy from a 4 inch pot as many of its roots were growing outside the pot!

Despite significant root growth, this guy has yet to bloom for me. My other cattleya orchids receive a bit less light, and yet have bloomed multiple times for me. I have it placed under artificial lights in a windowsill. The artificial lights alone bring in 1500 fc. When it's sunny, it can get up to 4500 fc.

This being said, I'm wondering if it would fare better with water/vase culture. The only thing I'm pondering is that cattleya orchids like to dry out a tiny bit. Does anyone have experience with water or semi-water culture with cattleya orchids?

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Photos to show progress from January 2017 to November 2017

[SaraJean]

It looks great, those roots look beautiful, why do you want to change anything? If it’s only because it hasn’t bloomed, that could be due to stress (rootless first picture). It looks like your orchid had to focus its energy on making new roots and reestablishing itself, not blooms. Personally, I would keep doing what your doing and it should bloom soon

[Orchid Whisperer]

With Cattleyas, not blooming is usually either a light issue (not enough light; gradually give it more), or the plant is not fully grown and ready to bloom.

I would advise a good against either full water (or semi-) for that plant. You will likely lose roots during conversion to the new method. You are getting great roots now, so why fix what isn't broken?

[estación seca]

I don't think it's large/old enough to bloom, unless it's a miniature.

[LFC25]

Beautiful roots indeed. Would you like to share what was done to the plant for growing such roots?

[DesignerofBeauty]

Originally Posted by LFC25

Beautiful roots indeed. Would you like to share what was done to the plant for growing such roots?

Thanks everyone for your help! I will leave it in it's larger pot (not photographed) with media.

To be honest, I did number of things to better the conditions of this guy. I added artificial lighting to my window and dramatically increased the light output. I also began using fertilizer on a more consistent basis. I also wasn't watering this guy enough in the beginning. I contribute it's success to more frequent watering, fertilizer and light increase.

[Optimist]

I was thinking that it might still be immature. Knowing when it is mature would depend on the parentage. There are mini, or compact, then there are full sized. I just had one bloom for the first time after 7 years total, and it was about 2.5 feet from one side to the other. Not quite a window-sill plant!

But in answering the rest of your question: I have about half of my cattleyas in semi Hydroponic. I got a group of seedlings and decided they would go into SH and they have been there ever since. They do well. In fact, I find that cattleyas like more water than commonly advised, at least while they are growing. This may be because I live in an arid state. Since there is water in the reservoir, you have to wait till it is gone before watering again. (this allows them to dry out). Spraying or misting the top of the medium will allow moisture to trickle down between real watering.

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[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

If you want to see blooms soon, don't change cultural techniques as people are saying. If those roots die en masse, you will wait years to see flowers, (basically, you will wait much longer than if you left it alone to grow well).

If you got this plant as a seedling, it is probably still immature. Just wait patiently. If everything is done correctly, the plant will automatically bloom without your intervention.