First Catasetums

[estación seca]

Fred Clarke says they do best with warm to hot summer nights. I'm wondering whether yours might like being warmer during the growing season than your sunroom.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by WaterWitchin

Thinking maybe I need to do a second watering mid-winter, around February.

This sounds correct!

And these get lots of fertilizer (i.e., much more than the rest of the collection) when in active growth?

---------- Post added at 11:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:42 AM ----------

Originally Posted by estación seca

Fred Clarke says they do best with warm to hot summer nights. I'm wondering whether yours might like being warmer during the growing season than your sunroom.

I was wondering something similar as well, actually

[WaterWitchin]

My sunroom isn't air conditioned and almost all windows, which are open in summer months. Same temps outside as in sunroom. If they need more than the heat and humidity of a summer in Kansas, I wouldn't know how to provide that. But it's a good question. Thanks for continuing to help me figure it out.

I use a slow release fertilizer in the medium, plus a little basket with slow release in it that I pour over when watering, plus the water I use has KLite in it used for all plants each time watering, and once a month the fertilizer plus KelpPak plus the Quantum stuff Ray sells. More fertilizer than that?

I'm still thinking it has something to do with the bulbs getting too dried out in the winter, because the older ones are just desiccated more than I see with the ones others (like you Steve) show in the offseason.

[Kim in CT]

I have had the same experience as WW. I ordered my first catasetums from SVO last July and put them on my front porch in CT, lovely morning sunlight, bright exposure the rest of the day. Watered them like "monsoons." Didn't repot.

Ctsm. Portagee Star 'Brian Lawson's Sunrise' HCC/AOS x Ctsm. Dentigrianum 'SVO Excellence' rotted within a month.

Ctsm. Penang 'Sweetheart' AM/AOS x Ctsm. Chuck Taylor 'SVO Sunshine' AM/AOS: Put out a small growth this year but recently also rotted.

The two Clowesia I bought are doing better [Cl. Grace Dunn (Cl. rosea 'Andy' x Cl. warczewitzii 'Brent Baker') and Clo. Elizabeth Anne Gallagher (Cl. Rebecca Northen 'Grapefruit Pink' x Ctsm. tigrinum 'SVO')], although they are far from thriving. Growths are smaller than the previous.

I can only get them as hot as the weather allows, and this year we didn't hit 90F at all. Nights regularly got into the 60's. Nice and humid but cool.

I'm slowly learning what orchids work for my conditions and catasetums do not. Nor do most paphs, but that is a thread for another day.

[WaterWitchin]

My summers are much warmer here. I'm curious... are they rotting? Or just shriveling up and desiccating?

The paphs are a different story. When you decide to do a thread and start that tale, I'd be interested.

[Kim in CT]

Rotting. In both cases, the leaves started to yellow prematurely, and when I checked the pseudobulbs, they were mush.

[Dusty Ol' Man]

Originally Posted by Kim in CT

Rotting. In both cases, the leaves started to yellow prematurely, and when I checked the pseudobulbs, they were mush.

I had the same experience with two I bought from SVO earlier this year. Started watering soon after I received them, and within a month both had rotted. I will try once more if I can get one in a dormant state with no new roots. If I fail with that, I'm done with the genus.Needless to say, I was very disappointed.

[WaterWitchin]

That's interesting. I have just the opposite issue going on... and am positive there's more than enough water to suit them. Obviously I'm new to the genus, but my understanding was once they get growing it's hard to overwater them.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by WaterWitchin

I'm still thinking it has something to do with the bulbs getting too dried out in the winter, because the older ones are just desiccated more than I see with the ones others (like you Steve) show in the offseason.

Sounds like an easy fix!