Catasetum- Spring Tips & Tricks

[isurus79]

Hey all,
I made a new video about what to do with your Catasetinae in spring. Basically, don't start watering! I go through several early growth stages that you're likely to see as these plants are waking up from dormancy. Enjoy!

Catasetums- Spring Tips and Tricks - YouTube

[DeaC]

Between enjoying your videos and actually seeing the Flickr fotos I may have more success and inspiration in my lifetime. TY,stay well.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by DeaC

Between enjoying your videos and actually seeing the Flickr fotos I may have more success and inspiration in my lifetime. TY,stay well.

Great! Shoot me any questions you have, either here or on the channel!

[mook1178]

Question about the Ctsm. tenebrosum in your video.

Is it normal for the new growth to be that big with roots as small as yours? I have a Ctsm. tenebrosum x callosum. I usually wait until the leaf spread is around 4 inches in pots I can't see the roots.

Is just better to wait until the pbulb is shriveled down to barely nothing?

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by mook1178

Question about the Ctsm. tenebrosum in your video.

Is it normal for the new growth to be that big with roots as small as yours? I have a Ctsm. tenebrosum x callosum. I usually wait until the leaf spread is around 4 inches in pots I can't see the roots.

Is just better to wait until the pbulb is shriveled down to barely nothing?

Yes, different species/hyrbids grow their roots at different rates compared to the growth. Typically if you cannot see the roots, I tell folks to wait until you can see them in the holes at the bottom of the pot to get an idea of length.

Letting your old bulbs shrivel is a-ok. I've even got a few posts showing how desiccated your plant can get (look for titles like "still not watering" in the Catasetum section) with the plants rebounding very nicely. Definitely err on the side of dryness if you're worried about the root length.

That said, my experience shows the plants will often accelerate bulb shriveling as the bulbs get thinner. It means the plant can die more quickly than you'd think when the bulbs are thing (as in half gone or more). I don' think you need to let them get super shriveled, but like I said, try to err on the side of dryness. Your plants will respond quite nicely when you start adding water/fert.

[isurus79]

This is about the time of year when this post is useful again!

[itzi]

Hey y'all! My Catasetum expansum had been growing pretty rapidly, with the new growth being around an inch long when I changed it to the PET method. However, after that repotting, it looks like its paused growth for the past week or so, and the tips of the new little turned brown. Anything to worry about, or should I just let the plant do its thing?

[Roberta]

I think just let it do its thing... you may have set it back a bit by potting after it was already in active growth but it'll likely recover. I know that my Ctsm. expansum plants are the most vigorous of the Catasetinae group. I do try to get my repotting done while they're still dormant so that once they get going they can just GO. File for reference next year...

[itzi]

Thanks, glad I learned something at least! It does have a few root tips that look nice and happy, so I suppose its just a little confused. I cant wait to post it once it blooms, its a red variant from Ecuagenera that I could find no images of online!

[isurus79]

If it abandons the new growth for some reason, it'll put out another (or 3!) very quickly. Shouldn't be a problem.