Help Needed with Castasetum Potting Culture that Works Outdoors

[D&S Mabel]

In the last 6 months, I received Ctsm. Pileatum 'Oro Verde', Ctsm. Splendens, and Cycd. Wine Delight 'J.E.M.' from two different commerical orchid growers.

All the plants appear to be starting active growth. I am in need of repotting them as two of the plants are in the same pot and fairly crowded and the other one has fallen over enough that it is missing most of it potting mix from the too small pot it is in.

They are currently in plastic pots with one containing 100% fine shredded fir bark and the other has a mix with the vast majority being sphagnum moss.

I grow outdoors year round in central Florida and was hoping that there were some like growers out there that can give me advice on what has worked for them with pots and potting mix under similar conditions.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

[dvespertilio]

I live in NE Florida and grow my catasetinae outdoors as well. I have been using sphagnum exclusively. I have some of the plants in plastic pots and others, mostly seedlings, in net pots, all with sphagnum as the only medium. I find that this works well because I can water and fertilize heavily during the growing season, and if it rains a lot I don't have to worry about rot setting in. I do have one large plant, Ctsm Crownfox Voodoo, that came from the grower, Sunset Valley Orchids, potted in a fine bark/diatomite mixture, and I have not yet repotted that plant. But all my other, smaller plants are in sphagnum. I have had good growth over the past year. and plan on continuing with sphagnum as my medium of choice in the upcoming growing season.

[Nokomis.FL]

I have many Catsasetinae and they have come in all kinds of mixes, from medium Phal mix to pure sphagnum and even mounted. All have done well, even two that were in pure Alifor, though I personally didn't like that. It's really a game of alchemy based on what is available and what works for you.

What I have migrated to is a 50/50 mix of bark and sphagnum. I use different size bark depending on the size of the bulbs and the pot. I find the bark keeps the mix more loose than pure moss allowing for a bit more air movement. When repotting I have found Styrofoam inside many a pot, as well. I have both pots and net pots in use.

Don't know what part of Central Florida you are in, but you might give Hicks Orchid Supplies a call at 407-493-3064 and order a catalog. I don't know if they can email you one but they might fax. They have a large inventory and I look for them at the area orchid shows. They are located out off East Colonial in Orlando.

[isurus79]

Here in Hawaii, I grow all my Catasetinae outside and they all get the same treatment. When I see that they have outgrown their 2" pots (I buy little guys) I move them into larger plastic pots with four, 1/2" wide slits that are evenly spaced. I take wine corks and put them side by side on their ends to fill up the bottom 2/3 of the pot. The top part of the pot is then pure spag. This allows the roots to have the best of both a wet environment (spag) and a rapidly drying one due to the large slits in the pot and the airflow around the cork. If you dont drink as much wine as I do (hehe), you can also use very large grade bark, called decorative bark, for the same effect. It works for me, though I think that any fast draining media with good water retention abilities would work fine.

[D&S Mabel]

Thank everyone for your feedback.

It looks like I will be using a good amount of (gulp) sphagnum with these plants. I was VERY hesistant to take the plunge as I have had very bad luck with sphagnum when I've used it with Cat types (black rot), onc. types and phals (root rot). But if it is working for you, and our conditions are fairly similar, it should be ok for me.

I'm thinking wooden vanda baskets with mesh lining for pots for better air movement - and I already own them. When it hits the middle of the summer and the humidity and rains kick in, I often have to run my ceiling fans in my growing area or run the risk of rot setting.

Being the chicken I am, I will put some styro peanuts on the bottom - I'm not a wine drinker and beer tabs probably will not get me the same results - and mix about 60%-70% sphag with tree fern fiber and redwood chips, again on concerns with air movement in my growing area.

Thanks again for the help.

Hick's Orchid Supply is about 15min away and I do go there from time to time for supplies. Nice people...

Not to wear out my welcome but one more question - Is there a way to tell the difference between a Cstm. and a Cycnodes by looking at the bulbs? Neither one has bloomed but one has what look like old bloom spikes coming out of the base of the bulb and the other appears to have them about 1/2 way up the bulb itself. They are in the same pot and I don't want to mislabel them when I repot.

Any thoughts?

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by D&S Mabel

Not to wear out my welcome but one more question - Is there a way to tell the difference between a Cstm. and a Cycnodes by looking at the bulbs? Neither one has bloomed but one has what look like old bloom spikes coming out of the base of the bulb and the other appears to have them about 1/2 way up the bulb itself. They are in the same pot and I don't want to mislabel them when I repot.

Any thoughts?

Off the top of my head, straight Cycnoches are the only Catasetinae that have flower spikes from halfway up the bulb. Your Cycnodes should have the spike coming from the base of the plant, but so will your Catasetum!! You will probably have to wait till this summer/fall season to tell who is who. If you have a large Cycnodes Wine Delight (the most common Cycnodes) the bulbs will be very tall and very thick while the Catasetum might be smaller. This is only a gross generalization though and I think your best bet would be to wait for flowers.

[kavanaru]

My

actually, the thumb rule (with exceptions, of course) is that Catasetum spike from the basis/lowest third of the PB, Mormodes from the middle third and Cycnoches from the top one.

Cycnodes is Cycnoches x Mormodes and therefore the spike should come from the uppr half of the PB.

With lots of experience you can say whether a plant is Catasetum, Mormodes or Cycnoches without blooming. However, this is not easy and not 100% accurate in most cases. Generally, cycnoches tend tohave larger and more slender PBs, and normally not more than 3... Catasetum can have many PBs, and they can be of almost any shape (species and growing conditions specific!)

As I mentioned before, Cycnodes is an intergeneric hybrid, and therefore the shape of the PBs will depend on the parents used too.

From the plants you have, I would say:

Ctsm pileatum and Ctsm splendens would have similar PBs (normally, ovate-fusiform to fusiform) while Cycnodes Wine Delight should habe larger fusiform PBs (check the PBs for spike-eyes: on the top, its Cycnodes...)

[kavanaru]

something else... if you are growing them outdoors, with high humidity, and if you can water them regularly ( 1 - 2 x daily!), why don't you grow them mounted? especially Ctsm. makes a gorgeous display when mounted!

Other option, which has been very good for my plants (several Ctsms, one cycnoches and two Cycnodes) is to grow them in Semi-Hydro! Note: many people use sphagnum, but it can be very very tricky! (I do not like it for my Catasetinae!)

[Bruno De Toni]

I strongly reccommend to follow this link CATASETUMS. In there you will find different potting culture media and mounting for catasetums. I followed their reccommendations and I have now very nice and healthly plants. The page is in portuguese but if you manage some spanish you will be able to understand most of the ideas exposed there, also the pictures help as guide lines.

[Bruno De Toni]

I forgot to ask you before Mabel. Who is the orchid grower that sells the pileatum oro verde in the states??