Watering

[bh4bhwgm]

I have read much about watering cattleya plants but how to properly water is my need. Can someone please explain? Do I submerse the root system, do I take it out of the container and repot? I am serious folks. I do not want to loose this plant because of over-watering or under watering. Thanks.

Thanks folks ! I think I have it now. Thanks to all of you for the great ideas.

[Uechi]

Water your cattleyas thoroughly. If you want to dunk them go ahead, but all you need is to soak them with a water breaker head like Dramm. This softens the waters' fall on the plant so you don't blast the plant or media. Your media should be fast flowing unless you are mounting the plants. You want to wet the roots so that the water flows thru the media and not hangs around for many days. The best way to tell if your plant needs water is to hold off on watering for 3-5 days ( unless its really hot) and pick up the plant. This will give you an idea of what the plant weighs/feels like dry. Then water for 1 minute or less then pick up the pot again. You should feel a substantial weight difference. From then on all you have to do is pick up the plant and you will know. You can also use a pencil or a wooden skewer that is dry and push it into the media all the way to the bottom. If it comes out looking wet don't water. There is an old adage if you think your orchid needs to be watered wait another day. Unless you water less than once a week ( again based on your climate and time of year ) you have a much better chance of killing your plant with too much water not to little. Cattleyas have pseudo bulbs which are designed to store water. If you are giving too little water for awhile you will see significant shrinkage in their size i.e they will shrivel. A little shriveling is fine, too much means I need water. Don't use soften water. It contains salt and will kill your plants.

[bh4bhwgm]

Many, many thanks. That helps a lot and much, much more that I could get any place else. Thanks for your promptness also. Sure want to be a success with the cattleya - it's suppose to be a beautiful red. Thanks, again.

[Uechi]

Be patient with yourself and with the Cattleya and you will be rewarded with great flowers. Cattleyas with a few exceptions are pretty forgiving of culture mistakes. If your orchid is a hybrid and not a species Cattleya it's probably even more forgiving. Don't hesitate to ask questions The only dumb questions are ones not asked. There are loads of people on this board that will go out of their way to help. The common bond, a love for these wonderful plants.

[cirillonb]

I have a moderately small collection in an apartment. I bring each plant to the kitchen and place in a bowl. I pour water or water/fertilizer through the plant and let it set in enough solution to cover the lowest hole for 30 minutes then remove to its usual place. Of course, this would not work for a very heavy plant. Seems to have worked for me since I don't think I have had watering problems.
Regarding frequency: I water weekly except the Paph and Phrags and some Dens get watered on Mon and Thurs. For a new plant, I use the skewer method to determine the level of moisture and try to match to published recommendations, then I try to quickly put in one of the above categories.
The 3 experimental mounting get watered daily by removing from chain from which they hang and drenching.
Nick (a new grower)

[magicatt]

I have all my cattleyas in clay orchid pots because the clay is porous (spelling?) and the roots will dry more rapidly than in a glazed or plastic pot. When I water I use an eensy bit of fertilizer and I keep pouring it in until about a gallon has run out the holes. Just so long as things get mostly dry before you water again. Welcome to the board!!

[bh4bhwgm]

Folks, I'm so grateful to all of you for this information as I know absolutely nothing about orchids and definitely must rely on what others who have experience tell me. Many, many thanks to all of you.

[MJSK]

I have learned that a method that works for one person, doesn't always work for another. Environments are different from state to state and from home to home. I live in Boston and in the winter, the building I live in is cold so I have to be careful not to over water. The days are shorter in the winter and the plants don't have as many hours a day to be active, their growth slows. In the spring when I repot, I can always tell if I overwatered because the roots rot when I do. I have had a Laeliacattleya for about 6 years now and it took me a few years to get it to bloom, which it did two years in a row. I hadn't repotted for 3 years until this last Spring and the roots were very rotted. I repotted in a more pourous medium and in a clay pot with slats. The plant grew many roots and new leaves over the summer, but didn't bloom this fall. The plant looks much healthier, and I am trying very hard not to over water. Good luck.

[Des]

I think that catts can be strange plants as their roots actively look for water, I place up turned up bottle caps in the baskets at different levels in the bark chunks when repotting . it is something to see how the Catts roots will grow into the bottle cap and go round and round inside the cap taking up the water!!

[Becky15349]

I grow mostly catts, and I also try not to waste so much water when I'm watering my orchids, so what I do is fill up my kitchen sink with warm water about 4 inches, a tiny bit of fertilizer and about 5 drops of super thrive. I then bring all my orchids to the sink and put them in the water, and I also pour water over them with a measuring cup. I grow in hydroton, so I like to try to get all the hydroton wet, and pouring water over it helps to do that as well as get water to the roots. Also, this way, I don't waste water, because I keep reusing what I have in the sink. I think when I used to water, I would waste gallons and gallons just pouring it through the plants, and I realized how terribly wasteful that was, so I now use this sink-filling method instead