isurus79 - I've also said pretty much everything already too. But let me respond to your recent post.
Main point is to know that 'inadequate' amount of 'aerated water' movement in a pot of spaghnum will cause roots (or some roots) to run out of oxygen. Roots need oxygen to stay alive.
Lots of water in a not-airy-enough medium (plus lack of adequate air-movement through the medium) can lead to relatively slow movement of aerated water.
Adequate air-movement in the surrounding environment coupled with good drainage pot, and consideration of the amount of water in the media ----- helps to avoid stagnant water issues and root oxygen starvation issues, as well as cuts down on chances of other issues - maybe unwanted bacterial/fungal activity of some sorts.
You mentioned it yourself ..... Catasetum is susceptible to root rot.
There is no 'BUT' ...... because I can't disregard what I experienced and shared about yellowing leaves issue in spaghnum that was too moist, and the water wasn't moving enough in the media.
As I told you already of my experience with water stagnation under particular conditions. The point is ----- blocking air-flow pathways too much can slow down movement of aerated water in the pot --- increasing chances of issues with the roots.
Golden rules of orchid growing - in general - for mainstream orchids works extremely well. These are:
- Provide recommended growing temperatures.
- Provide recommended lighting levels and duration.
- Provide adequate water.
- Provide conditions that allow roots to receive adequate oxygen, keeping in mind that adequate aerated-water movement within the media will provide that oxygen, and the roots need oxygen to stay alive, and dying/dead roots stops water transfer into the plant - leading to yellowing leaves and dehydrating plant.
- Avoid water stagnation in the media and around roots (which if using pots, can be achieved with very good drainage pots and consideration of the media used and consideration of how much water is applied at times of watering, and behaviour of the media in response to being watered - eg. how long it takes to dry; and also ensure that drainage holes of pots are not blocked by surfaces that the pot rests on).
- Provide adequate air-movement (air flow) in the growing area (which also helps water movement within pot, and also helps to combat fungal/bacterial activity in the growing area). Avoid still-air growing environments.
- Provide adequate supplements (eg. fertiliser solution, cal/mag solution etc) - and avoid over-dosing - and keeping in mind that fertiliser salts can accumulate and reach undesirable root-harming levels in media and roots if over-doing the fertilisation.
- Provide adequate humidity (- not always incredibly important for mainstream orchids, but should be factored in if needed).
Those golden rules are just a start, but will allow us to go far.
Of course there are other aspects - such as looking out for diseases, attacking bugs/snails etc.
And then there is the occasional media dry-out idea for mainstream orchids. The idea of allowing media to occasionally dry out --- occasionally --- can help cut down on unwanted activity in or near the pot - such as certain unwanted bacteria build up, or algae growth on surface roots. The occasional dry-out approach is quite reasonable ----- not meaning dry-out between every watering --- just occasional once-in-a-while dry out.
As mentioned before. Applying those particular rules (humidity not always a high priority) certainly applies very well to catasetum.
Sure - the
PET method (which I will assume comes from using of polyethylene terephthalate plastic bottles as an orchid pot) you use can be workable, and it allowed your catasetum to grow well. Keep using that method if it works well. But if you ever do encounter any issues with it in future, then please report it.
I note that your pot is a transparent one. I don't know if catasetum roots can photo-synthesise - perhaps able to generate O2 sometimes. So there may be considerations about that. On the other hand, algae growth is also something to consider - it may or may not eventually lead to some sort of issue with roots. That's just a maybe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by isurus79
This is how they grow in nature and why you can grow them this way under home conditions.
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But not always, right isurus79? Such as at
1 minute 28 seconds into this clip below (- that plant up there on the pole looks pretty good to me.) :
Quote:
Originally Posted by isurus79
If someone points to the sky and says its red, I will push back and correctly state its blue. The internet is full of misinformation and opinions masquerading as fact. I will do my best to counter such nonsense until my dying breath.
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isurus79 - correcting mis-information is highly encouraged - for the benefit of orchids and orchid growers.
Based on what you wrote above - please answer my question about why you believe newly emerging roots will stall or become stunted for catasetums coming out of true dormancy when watered (when - as already mentioned - growers such as myself and other members have seen and shown no such adverse effects on the roots and catasetum plant). I don't mind whether somebody was right or wrong. We're all learning all the time. We just need to make sense of it all, and clear it up.
My opinion about this is - if the catasetum's roots get the oxygen they need, and no stagnation occurs around the roots or in the media, and the temperature and light levels etc are fine, then a catasetum coming out of dormancy will be just fine even if the newly emerging roots are exposed to water. I had already mentioned that roots are roots. They're supposed to be able to handle water.
Referring to this link
Click Here ...... you will need to carefully re-think the situation related to the watering of newly emerging roots of catasetums coming out of dormancy.
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