Ordered my first ever Catasetinae- need culture advice

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by Regelian

Camille, if from Frau Elsner, then it is SVO. It will most likely have a tag from the company. I have many plants from her, which she regularly imports from Fred Clarke.
As I am in a similar climate zone in Cologne, I have found that most of my Catasetinae do not do well outside in the Summer. The nights are too cool (under 15° is common). Admittedly, this last Summer was VERY cold in Germany and we had almost no sun, plus masses of rain (set new records), which really cools things down at night. Also, snails and slugs were a major plague. I had very few blooms this year. If you have a sheltered warm spot for the Summer, then give it a try. Just keep in mind, these plants really profit from warm nights, which you may well have. Are you in Utrecht?
Groetjes uit Keule,
Jamie

Yes, they are from Elsner. Thanks for sharing your experience about putting them outside. I'm not far from Utrecht, about 30min drive east of it. Nights are rarely warm in the summer, though on the balcony the plants are more sheltered. If I do put them outside it's easy enough to bring them inside at night.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Good luck Camille, I keep thinking these look so fascinating. But yet I have to many orchids. And now Fred has come out with his new Catt list, oh boy.

[camille1585]

So, I've had my 2 Cats for about a month now. And of course as a newbie to these plants, more questions pop up.

Clowesetum Melana's Daughter now has a new growth, and the first roots are just starting to show, and I'm going to repot it this week before they get any longer and I risk breaking them. (yes, I know that I should not water yet) The parent bulb is getting wrinkled- I know that it's normal since it's feeding the new growth, but should I worry at some point?

Clowesia Rebecca Northen has zero signs of starting a new growth. Since this hybrid flowers in late winter, does it also start growing much later? I assume the bulb is alive since it's nice and plump.

[Roberta]

Do you really need to pot that Clowesetum? It would be really better to wait until next winter even if it is climbing out of the pot. As for Rebecca Northen, I have two... one that didn't bloom is starting new growth but the one that bloomed has shown no sign. These things do what they do when they want to... Just observe. Let the plant tell you what to do.

[camille1585]

I was under the impression that these needed yearly repotting, just before/as the roots start growing? And the plants came potted in sphagnum, and my track record with that media is catastrophic.

I'm completely lost with these plants!

[estación seca]

Repot when they outgrow the pot, not each year. The old roots are mostly dead, so old medium back there doesn't matter. Pseudobulbs don't last as long as those on Cattleyas; you get large plants eventually, but few pseudobulbs are older than 4-5 years.

I also don't think you need to repot these the first year you have them. I see people growing happy, large plants for several years in the small pots Fred uses for the smaller seedlings. Standing them in water obviates the need for a larger pot, but they do become unstable.

Fred says he thinks 90% of the older roots die each winter, and the new roots are what matters. He suggested not pulling off the old sphagnum, but just dropping the plant into a new pot, and filling in around the old root ball with new medium.

The point of sphagnum is to stay completely sopping wet all summer long. If I don't stand mine in bowls of water they wilt before I get home from work each day. These are not like any other kind of orchid you've grown. Compared to other orchids, the amount of water these require to stay alive is just amazing. I was getting nervous because the ones we were selling at our show last weekend were starting to wilt a little, and there was no good way to water them.

[Roberta]

They should really be repotted BEFORE the roots start growing. Once they start to break dormancy they should be left alone (in addition to the roots you see there may be others under there already started) Sphagnum is a very good medium for these until they get into a much bigger pot. Once they start growing, they need all the moisture that they can get. Once it is ready to start watering, you can't over water these. When repotting, it is absolutely impossible to remove the sphagnum without breaking the roots. Once it goes dormant, if a few roots are broken, not so bad because they are not very efficient. I just leave any sphag that isn't easy to remove... the old roots will die in a a year or so anyway. It's the new ones that are absolutely critical. Eventually they get into a larger pot and I use small bark. And they only need yearly repotting if they need the space. (When small they typically do) But it's much different than a Phrag that also needs to be wet and does need yearly repotting. Catasetinae are unique...

[isurus79]

I'm going to play devil's advocate here and say repot both plants now. You don't know what the media condition is in the pot and starting fresh will allow you to know exactly the media's age. Long fiber spag lasts two years. Roots just poking out is still a great time for a new pot. I also generally do a heavy trim of old roots when repotting, but I leave enough for an anchor in the new pot.

---------- Post added at 11:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:58 AM ----------

Also, I posted an Epidendrum thread in the Catasetum forum. Can you move that over the Cattleya.