Cattleya aclandiae inside an apartment

[clusty]

Hey,

After a long search, I found a Cattleya aclandiae. From what I've been reading it needs some more particular conditions, namely crazy fast drying media.

Does anybody have advice on how to grow it in an apartment?
My thought is to put in a slotted basket with coarse bark chips. Would it be moist enough?

I have a bulbophyllum in pure moss in a basket and it needs watering every 2 days, where as during summer I am watering it all the time.

[Leafmite]

I grow this one. Mine is just a seedling and I've had it for a couple of years. I mounted mine bare root on cork and I water this one every day or other day. It gets high light for a cattleya and the leaves have all types of purple splotches, quite normal for aclandiae. I do put mine outside for the summer but as long as you have good lighting, you should be fine.

---------- Post added at 06:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:31 PM ----------

You could grow it in a clay pot without medium, too. I just thought I should add, it is a very easy orchid to grow.

[clusty]

So treat it as any other cattleya ?

[brn_thmbs]

I got a big one mounted on cork & it was unwieldy for my grow space, so I took a half day... and unmounted it. Since it was already climbing around the mount I also decided to divide it in two. Now I've got both in a shallow dish of mostly lava rock with some medium grade orchiata bark & perlite. New growths are coming now & the roots have just taken off to my surprise. I'm sure it will over flow, but that's ok as long as it's happy. I'll just drop the whole bit in a larger pot when it comes time :-)

[silken]

I potted my seedling in a clear pot with medium bark chips. It has been thriving and now it has its first bud! I think it can be treated as a normal Cattleya but maybe on the very quick to dry side of things. A slotted pot sounds good.

[smweaver]

This species likes medium to high light levels and heat, so as long as you have the patience to drench it a couple of times per day in the kitchen sink, it should do well for you. I used to have a couple of them, but I just couldn't keep them warm enough during the winter. In the summer heat and humidity, however, they thrived. Good luck with you new plant.

Steve

[silken]

I keep mine on a heat mat in a cool greenhouse. So far so good

[clusty]

Originally Posted by smweaver

This species likes medium to high light levels and heat, so as long as you have the patience to drench it a couple of times per day in the kitchen sink, it should do well for you. I used to have a couple of them, but I just couldn't keep them warm enough during the winter. In the summer heat and humidity, however, they thrived. Good luck with you new plant.

Steve

A couple times per day, does not really work for me
I need to be able to let it be for at least 1-2 days with no attention even in the dead of summer.

[smweaver]

If you can only pay attention to its watering requirements every few days--especially if it's going to be in a slotted basket with a fast-drying medium like coarse bark--it may be something of a challenge for you to keep it happy. Although you are correct in that this species does want to dry out fast at the roots between waterings, it also likes likes to be watered a lot while it's in active growth.

[clusty]

So I am better off in a pot with coarse bark ?