C. Drumbeat 'Heritage'

[Sun rm.N.E.]

Classic beauty. Your collection seems quite varied. Reminds me of of the spectacle Jones and Scully made at Philadelphia Flower Show when they drove up with a few tractor trailers full of their showiest Catts.

[dounoharm]

an old classic! its so nice seeing these old friends still putting on a show! with all the new cultivars to choose from, its unusual to see the oldie goldies anymore...your cattleya is putting on a great display! I think you are right in letting it go and keeping it large, they do bloom more powerfully when they have an extensive root system to draw from..well done!

[brsucculents]

Very impressive. Large plants are really nice but they take up a lot of space.
Tucker, what media do you use in your wood baskets?

[TOMMYMIAMI]

Absolutely stunning!

[tucker85]

Originally Posted by brsucculents

Very impressive. Large plants are really nice but they take up a lot of space.
Tucker, what media do you use in your wood baskets?

I actually don't use much media. I use large chunks of cork, tree fern fiber and lava rock. Lately I've been leaving out the lava rock because it's heavy and the roots seem to prefer the cork and tree fern. I grow outdoors in South Florida and it can sometimes rain every day for parts of the summer. It's important to let the roots get lots of air or they wind up rotting. It's kind of like growing on a vertical mount but it works in our climate. When I first put the plant in the basket, I place the entire root ball in, without disturbing the media attached to it or trimming any roots. Then I put the big chunks of media around it. The old media will rot away and be washed out when I water. Like I said it works well in our hot, humid and rainy environment. Maybe in a drier climate more media would be needed. I really don't know about other climates.

[brsucculents]

Thanks for posting that Tucker. It's really interesting. It's definitely closer to how Orchids grow in the wild.

[WhiteRabbit]

Fabulous!

[brsucculents]

Tucker, are you going to the Tamiami Orchid Show this weekend? The vendor list is amazing. I wish I could be there.

[tucker85]

Originally Posted by brsucculents

Tucker, are you going to the Tamiami Orchid Show this weekend? The vendor list is amazing. I wish I could be there.

I don't think so. I went to the Ft. Lauderdale Orchid Show last weekend and bought more orchids than I have room for. I have a lot of friends going to Tamiami though. I'm sure it will be a good show.

[brsucculents]

Which Orchid show is the best? There's Tamiami now, there's a Miami show in October, and Redlands in Summer. How does the FTL show compare?
Are the prices reasonable?