Inorganic media?

[MateoinLosAngeles]

I have this understanding that most folks prefer to pot their Catasetum in sphagnum moss as it retains plenty of water during their thirsty period, and it gets crispy dry during dormancy. This is especially important with seedlings and young plants.

Sphagnum might have other advantages, for example, when it's dry it won't dehydrate the growing root tips, as opposed to other media like LECA.

I've also seen several recommendations to add a layer of manure at the bottom of the pot, or add a reservoir to let the deeper roots literally sit in water throughout the summer.

I wanted to bring this up to the forum because I'm personally not a fan of Sphagnum moss. We are just not on the same page. It's like a toxic relationship.

I like to water heavily, huge drenches, from above. I feel Sphagnum prefers to be watered from below or with less volume at time, as in with a sprinkler system or dripping. I also feel that even the highest quality sphagnum requires more frequent repotting than say, orchiata, and is more inviting to pests than inorganic media.

I'm considering repotting my catasetum fully in rockwool cubes with perhaps a heavy layer on top to keep the cubes from flying away when dry in winter.

I generally prefer inorganic media or long lasting organic media like orchiata bark or charcoal. So any ideas or thoughts on what you choose to pot your catasetums in would be really appreciated.

[estación seca]

Catasetums use so much water you not only soak the ones in sphagnum from above, you stand them in dishes of water. A typical S/H container won't hold even a day's water for a healthy Catasetum. That's why so many people use sphagnum.

The reservoir techniques also use highly water retentive media. I'm guessing they were developed in Brasil because sphagnum isn't as available.

[isurus79]

Any inorganic media should work, just make sure you have some type of water reservoir for the roots to drink from.

I would caution agains charcoal though. That stuff holds more and more fertilizer until builds up enough to be toxic to the roots. This would be especially troublesome for high fertilizer orchids like Catasetums.

[Ray]

Mateo, I doubt rock wool cubes will be the answer, as they have very little structural integrity and collapse under their own weight when saturated, basically eliminating all air flow pathways.

However, if you add a small percentage of something rigid to it to create some gaps, that might keep it open enough.