Should I water or not?

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by SouthPark

Catasetum roots are still vulnerable to rot (just like other orchids), vulnerable to water stagnation and oxygen starvation when O2 levels become low enough. Also will be exposed to issues if the pot is enclosed too much. Maybe no issue for some time - but then one might wonder why issues are encountered at some later stage. The reason - failure to apply basic golden-rules of orchid growing.

Again, you're back to this. Every single sentence in this paragraph is incorrect.

[early]

Originally Posted by isurus79

Again, you're back to this. Every single sentence in this paragraph is incorrect and comes from a place of ignorance.

Enough already. Are you so you such an egoist that you can only feel good about yourself when you put other people down.

I came here to learn about Orchids. Not to listen to this insecure trivial,

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by early

Enough already. Are you so you such an egoist that you can only feel good about yourself when you put other people down.

I came here to learn about Orchids. Not to listen to this insecure trivial,

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.

Funny that you are the only person slinging insults in this thread...as you complain about "putting people down."

---------- Post added at 12:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:22 PM ----------

Originally Posted by mook1178

Isurus

When you say every sentence in that paragraph is incorrect, are you saying that catasetums aren't vulnerable to root rot?

Catasetums are technically susceptible to root rot, but not "like other orchids." Mormodes have a very quick lifecycle because they grow in rotting wood (low oxygen, high moisture) and other Catasetinae often grow in the part of the palm front that connects to the tree. If you've ever pulled one of those down, you know it's full of plant debris and water. This natural preference for a low oxygen, high moisture growing environment around the root ball is why the PET method is so effective (see photo below for an example). It's also why you don't need to let them dry out during the active growing season when growing in sphagnum, the more traditional method for this group. It's why longtime growers around the planet know not to let the roots dry out totally when in active growth. It's also why long time growers have massive plants they can split up, year after year, after year. This is how they grow in nature and why you can grow them this way under home conditions.

There are no "golden conditions" for all 25,000 species of orchids. Some do quite well with this type of care, but to paint in broad strokes and say this is the only way to grow everything all the time is not correct. Telling long time growers their growing conditions will lead to rot, when they will not is incorrect. The sky is not red, its blue.

Catasetum maculatum by Stephen Van Kampen-Lewis, on Flickr

---------- Post added at 12:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:37 PM ----------

I have said my piece (a lot) and have no more interest in participating in this thread. Talk to y'all later.