Should I water or not?

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by mook1178

South Park even gave valid reason, which is generally accepted advice for growing orchids.

Again, a more experienced grower wouldn’t have given this type of advice because it’s not correct for this group. His assessment is incorrect. I don’t want people reading this to think Catasetums need tons of airflow around their roots because they read it on OB.

Originally Posted by SouthPark

Steve - I know we're talking about the jar method too. I reckon it's not a good technique - ie. plugging a pot of wet spaghnum/moist spaghnum into another pot filled with water, cutting off air-flow through the drainage holes of the main pot. I believe this is what can promote fungus/bacteria/rot activity. It's based on what we know already.

You’re belief is incorrect. This is a perfectly acceptable technique. Hence the recommendation from the most prolific Catasetum grower on the planet. Jamming permanently wet sphagnum into a plastic bottle is also the basis for the PET technique, which is incredibly successful way to grow this group, but not other groups of orchids. Understanding the basic habits of these guys in nature is important to giving good advice. The bottle method described by Fred will not promote fungus/bacteria/rot.