When I have obtained Catasetinae this time of year, I have just left them in their pots (often with roots going all over the place), just dropping into clay pots to keep them from falling over. Then did the repotting in the winter. These don't seem to be unhappy climbing out of their pots or being pot-bound. Personally, I am inclined to ignore the aesthetics and let the plants do what they want.

No problem! PET just stands for polyethylene, which refers to the plastic bottles people reuse as "pots."

Fred told me in an interview this spring (see link below) that there is no reason to repot the Catasetums he sends out this time of year because the media is still in good shape. Where did you hear that Fred up-pots these plants?

https://youtu.be/UHtFmC9LRp8

after receiving my shipment I spoke to my friend Tim Culbertson who works with Fred, and I think does most of his paph breeding (among other things). I specifically asked him if I should pot up or wait til next spring; he told me that Fred up-pots the seedlings he keeps and I quote, "for faster and bigger growth immediately".

I did not disturb the roots! I gently removed the styrafoam peanuts at the bottom, slid some new sphagnum in there, and packed in the extra space with new sphagnum. I am interested to see if there will be more root growth into this area.

Ah, good to know! Tim definitely knows his stuff.

I've gotten to know Tim very well. He is also my de facto "drug dealer" for orchids as he sells many very nice things!

I’m fairly new to Catasetinae but moving forward I intend to repot them in late winter/early spring before they break dormancy. I repotted a Catasetinae in April this year and it stunted the new growth and set it back a lot. Lesson learned.

However, I did up-pot a Fdk from a 3 inch pot into a 4 inch put (simply adding more Sphagnum around) in May, after the roots were fully developed and coming out of the bottom, because it was a top heavy division and it dried too quickly and was too wobbly. It took it like nothing happened and is growing strong.

I do like to repot stuff coming from nurseries right away. I don’t think I’ve ever not received at least one plant with “a guest.” I will give props to SVO because it never happened with them, but I think that can be also a matter of luck with my orders. But I think even the best nurseries can have an inadvertent pest and it’s a reasonable expectation. I’ve definitely had slugs and snails come out of pots more than once. I do think that plants in Sphagnum might be less likely to carry pests hidden in the pot than those in bark, but they can definitely contain spider mite eggs, etc. I would assume Fred does a pretty heavy Spider Mite prevention of this Catasetinae, yet I might do a good spraying with AzaMax. I just like to wait a few days to do all of this to let the plants recover from the shock of shipping.

I might add more plants to the list, but right now Catasetinae and Bifoliate Cattleyas are the two types of Orchids that under no circumstance would I repot upon arrival if it’s not “their time.”

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May I ask what is y’alls opinion on the styrofoam peanuts at the bottom? Seems a very controversial topic that gets folks on either side to foam through their mouths.

No foaming a the mouth, I haven't found styrofoam peanuts to be useful. And at repotting time, somewhat messy, and makes old medium unsuitable for going into the compostable trash can if they break up and leave bits aound. When they get loose they blow all over the place on trash day if there is wind or they don't make it into the truck. So, personally, I'd rather not.

People angry about the styrofoam peanuts? I guess I’m agnostic with no good or bad feelings about them.

Spider mites on Catasetinae can be controlled by thoroughly wetting all plant surfaces with water every week or two. It's easy to do by carrying the plant to the shower. These plants don't mind getting soaked and staying wet.

The way Fred Clarke uses those hydrophobic foam peanuts, it reduces the root ball size and keeps the sphagnum moss from draining water out the bottom of the pot as rapidly as it would without the peanuts. The foam peanut layer is a barrier to water movement downwards. I'm guessing this lets the plants dry faster, which means fertilizer can be applied more often.

personally I use peanuts liberally when potting paphs and catts, any "dead" space gets some peanuts. sometimes I have root systems that kind of form a "shell" with a hollow interior if that makes sense, at least for paphs. for catts I'm kind of lazy about chopping up plants so many just get up-potted, and when I get beyond 5" with sphagnum I like the peanuts to prevent too much moisture buildup. that's just my system. I love composting but I find that sphagnum is so acidic it doesn't break down well anyway so it just gets thrown out.