First Catasetums

[WaterWitchin]

Know nothing about these things, but thinking I should learn. Here are a few for consideration...

fimbriatum
tenebrosum
pileatum 'yellow form'

Are these okay for a new test driver?

[hypostatic]

HAHA! Welcome to the club

I haven't worked with those specifically, but their general care should be the same as the rest of the genus. Generally they are not fussy and don't you don't need to be super careful with them, compared to most other orchids.

General culture notes:
1) Hot and WET in the summer. The bottom part of the roots can be always wet and submerged in water. Use ridiculous amounts of fertilizer.

2) DRY in the winter. Don't be afraid to let them go bone dry in the winter, after the leaves fall off. You'll be tempted to water and baby them (cuz they're orchids!), but I've literally seen people clean and store the bulbs like potatoes lol.

3) Only real "difficulty" is watering (or rather, NOT watering) when the new growth comes. You need to wait till the new growth/roots are well developed enough to water, or else you risk killing the new growth/roots.


And I guess the only other real thing to consider, is that like all plants, hybrids are more tolerant/hardier than species. So if you prefer, you could start with those also.

[DirtyCoconuts]

She will growing them in SH
No rules apply lol

I don’t have those, WW, but I have never heard of them as very difficult.

Email fred and ask him if there are any great beginner ones

[estación seca]

I would most definitely begin with hybrids, not those species.

[WaterWitchin]

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

She will growing them in SH
No rules apply lol

I don’t have those, WW, but I have never heard of them as very difficult.

Email fred and ask him if there are any great beginner ones

Correct, SH. Is there any other way?

---------- Post added at 02:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:08 PM ----------

Originally Posted by estación seca

I would most definitely begin with hybrids, not those species.

Why ES?

[jcec1]

I grow pileatum and it is in bloom at the moment - female flowers - the males come later.

I have about a dozen Catasetiae, Cycnoches, Cycnodes, Catasetum and Catanoches and none are more difficult than any other.

They all get the same culture - dry winter rest, slow spring start dependent on when they wake up and all stopped watering on December 1st.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by WaterWitchin

Know nothing about these things, but thinking I should learn. Here are a few for consideration...

fimbriatum
tenebrosum
pileatum 'yellow form'

Are these okay for a new test driver?

All of those are fairly hardy! I always recommend folks cut their species Catasetum teeth on pileatum. Its pretty forgiving and has a relatively short dry season.

[JScott]

I started with hybrids (I still only have the two). They are FDK After Dark 'SVO Black Pearl' and Cycnodes Taiwan Gold 'Orange'. I have found them to be very trouble free. I did have slight problem with my FDK this year, I talked about it in another thread. I put the plants outside a little early this year, and the Cycnodes had sufficient roots (about two or three inches) to start regular watering. The FDK was moving a little more slowly, and the new roots were just starting. We had a lot of rain this spring, and the roots on my FDK only got an inch or two long and stopped growing. The new growth is about half the size of the previous one, so I think the conventional wisdom is correct. No water until you have good root growth on the new growths (two or three inches).

I give them TONS of water in the summer. They are always damp, if not wet, and they grow like crazy. Then once the bulbs mature and the leaves start to yellow, just stop watering, and wait for the blooms, and they will come in the winter.

I had no previous experience with this alliance, but i have found them to be easy to grow, with no trouble at all. I think if you just follow the typical Catasetinae recommendations, you'll do great.

[WaterWitchin]

Okay, I don't want to research all too much. Mostly because I'm lazy and y'all can give me good advice. Tell me literally size difference "space-wise" for this guys. And difference in size between the mini ones and regular ones.

And I looked at Fred Clark's site. Strange...you get a picture of each parent, but not of the plant itself? Is this something usual with Ctsm or???

---------- Post added at 02:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:38 PM ----------

I had an opportunity to buy a huge one of those really black ones After Dark or something, like seven or eight humongous big bulbs, for a hundred bucks. Had I known better, would have known I was getting a "deal." But I don't care for the color (blasphemy, I know). Should have bought it, divided it, and sold it.

Anyway, that's the only Ctsm I've ever seen in person. Never seen one in bloom, in person. So it's hard other than that one to guestimate size.

[mook1178]

As far as size goes, they can be up to 3' wide and tall. That is the larges I have seen.

As far as SVO website, those are seedlings that for the most part have not bloomed. Some of the descriptions have a link for First Bloom, if they have bloomed.