With this heat I have been spritzing the roots daily with rain water.

I've killed catts by watering them too much... even in heat I think too much water for these guys cause problems. especially species, hybrids are for more forgiving...

Also maybe it didn't have enough light for energy to finish out that growth...

I don't think I watered too much. The tip is all dried up not wet and rotten.

My orchids are all outside but our temperatures have been mostly around 88'F to 91'F, daytime, and around fifteen to twenty degrees cooler, nighttime, most of the summer so it has been pretty optimal for the Cattleyas. I have been adding a little powdered milk with each watering to help prevent fungus issues. With the red lava rock/basket pots, they get watered every day that it doesn't rain.

The walkerianas all seem to be doing well. I have the older, noID walkeriana, the bag baby, Cattleya walkeriana var. alba 'Camelia' (with a tiny extra), the Andy's Cattleya walkeriana coerulea and the Hausermann's Cattleya walkeriana var alba 'Pendative'.

A new walkeriana for me
 

When I thought I might not keep the one I had alive, I ordered a Carmela from a different ebay seller. I was shocked when I received it as it has a tiny new growth and ONE new root growing from the new growth, and
ALL the rest are dead. I don't know what's up with these walkerianas. I'm going to send a message to this seller, too. Hope he's as forthcoming as the last one was.

Looks to me like it was plug grown and then "cleaned up" for shipping. A lot of plugs from the big growers in Hawaii ship this way to nurseries to be grown on. I'd bet that the vendor took in a batch of plugs and is reselling them (not that there's anything wrong with that...); hopefully though, the savings were passed along. Just my 2¢, please let us know how the resolution goes,
Adam


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Actually, that could also be a Lowe's bag baby....

I just saw a presentation by Gold Country Orchids where they saw walkeriana in situ
It was on a south facing cliff on almost pure rock that measured 100+ degrees f

But since they were on rock, i can imagine them not liking too much water

Go back and read the link to catwalker's post. Walkeriana needs a lot of water all year, but the roots also need a lot of aeration. Where it lives it gets nightly dew. Mine have easily tolerated many days in the 100s. catwalker makes a point to tell another person several times that the person is not watering enough.

I would guess most summer trouble is due to not enough water because of not enough watering, or because of dead roots.

My standard walkeriana seedling is in S/H and looks great. It gets a lot of water. My coerulea seedling is still in bark. It is growing profusely but the leaves are all wrinkled, because I can only water it twice a week.

wintergirl, I'm pretty sure you underwatered, unless you have a root problem. A blackening and drying new lead is classic underwatering damage.

You guys are all making me want a Cattleya walkeriana so bad! I was watching one on ebay and someone else got it, because I missed the end of the bidding. There is an alba at Haussermanns that is pretty, also. I have been wanting a new catt and have been undecided about unifolate versus bifoliate, and I really want a prolific bloomer. I'm not even sure if there are any catts that bloom more often that once a year.

But this Project has me wanting a Cattleya walkeriana. Now I just have to find one!

If I had a third one, I'd try subjecting it to my Sophronitis watering regime and see how that works out; I occasionally water them during the day, but 4-5 nights a week, I water them just before the lights go out...I'll have to dig up a bit more altitude data on walkeriana; I've got a hunch it undergoes a similar cycle in its natural range, ie humid during the dawn hours with residual dew/rain, lessened humidity and warm temps during the day and an uptick in humidity towards sundown, accompanied by cooler temps and either dew/fog/rain...

I water all three if mine every day. There have been a few days where they didn't get it but not many and then they have to for sure get it the next. They are in plastic 2 inch pot 2 1/2 inch plastic and the larger one in a 3 1/2 inch clay. I was not watering the larger one every day and the psb were to thin and the leaves wrinkly so I have upped it and I think the new psb looks better. But it seems to only grow one new root per psb.

Now funny thing the baby (I will call it, I guess I should number them) has several roots for the new growth and the middle plant that has 2 new growths also has several roots per growth. Not sure what to think about that. I'm also not sure about how hot it gets in where they are, I would say somewhere in the 80's. I have just move the thermometer in there so I will see. They get morning sun. Oh and all are in bark mix.

BillieG, go for it! :)

My bag baby I got from Lowe's earlier this summer has a nice new lead growing. No new roots yet, but the original pb's have plumped up and the sound roots it started with are hanging in there.

Catherine

My mounted one is doing great, even though the potted one keeps blasting every new lead it gets. I'm glad I got the mounted one or this project would be pretty sad.

Just purchased a Walkeriana Semi Alba "Carmela"! It is mounted so I am going to have to pot it, because I am a windowsill grower. I'm so excited, but is it going to go into a pot ok from being mounted? What kind of medium so you suggest?

BillieG--

Glad you joined up!

I'm a windowsill grower during the colder months (September through April) and grow the rest of the year outdoors on a shaded porch. I too thought potted was the only way I could go since I didn't have a greenhouse....

Many rotted roots and dead plants later I learned better. Pretty much all of my catt alliance orchids and most of my dens and oncs are now mounted and they are doing much better. No more root rot (I do tend to overwater) and much, much easier to fit into limited space since I can hang them all the way up to the ceiling inside.

My wintertime house humidity runs right about 40% most days, so all the mounts seem to need is a light misting in the AM and they're good to go.

If I were you I'd order a second C. walkeriana and see which growing method works for you (yes, I'm enabling and giving you the perfect excuse to add another orchid, lol)....

Catherine

I can say the same with Catherine, I would reconsider potting... I've killed so many catt stuff that were potted... they rot so easy... and besides that I prefer things mounted and sooo hard to find a good source for mounted material... especially considering I've had such bad experiences over the years with a vendor that specializes in this, not naming names, that any new source would be welcome... were did you get said walkeriana mounted?

my sad one that had rotted roots, then attacked by ants, that i mounted now has a great new lead, maybe 3" now and leaves are forming (this growth will be bifoliate for some reason), and is forming a single big root so far... had it soaking over night (mount sat on water, leaves were completely above water) after mentionings by estacion and reading over catwalker's notes...

can't wait for the new one to come...

I'm fortunate to have access to good wood and bark here for mounts on my own property. The thick, textured bark of things like osage orange and black walnut works well. Plenty of ash bark around from all the dead trees (thank you, emerald ash borer--not), but it's thinner and more crumbly.

Grape stumps (the thick trunks at the base) can work well as long as it's not constantly wet. Maple, oak, and fruitwoods (apple, pear) also seem to hold up for me.

I'm not too far from Lake Erie, so I've also got access to driftwood and the orchids seem to thrive on it.

Perhaps the strangest mount I've got is the "stump" or base from an old multiflora rose clump I grubbed out when I was cleaning it out of the pastures. Lots of nooks and crannies and texture to it--it's been sitting outside since last summer waiting for the right orchid....

One of the nice things about this thread is that between us we can try a bunch of different growing methods for this species and collect our experiences in one area for future reference.

Catherine

Be careful mounting on black walnut; the whole tree produces growth inhibitors (which is why not many plants grow under them...) oak, ironwood, cherry all work great if you're in the Midwest.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm in north central Ohio, so yup, plenty of native hardwoods.

I haven't had issues with growth inhibitors from my black walnut mounts, but I'll keep an eye out and move to another wood if they do poorly. From what I've read black walnut roots excrete the most juglone (the growth inhibitor) with less throughout the rest of the plant.

I do know that sensitivity to black walnut varies with species--from what I've read tomatoes are pretty sensitive, for example, and the poison ivy and nettles around here seem to prefer growing under the black walnuts....

FWIW, my walkeriana bag baby is still in its pot on the porch--I do plan to mount it before I bring it in for the winter.

Catherine

Both of my rootless wonders are bare root in a clay pot (together) and I dunk the roots every morning and again when I get home from work. The first one has 2 iffy roots the second one has a half inch root the rest are dead. so far so good. I'll keep trying. Once they start growing roots I plan on mounting them.

My seedlings seem to make the best root growth after maturing a new lead.

Good idea, I may still mount my potted one yet.

Just in, my Catt Walkeriana Semi-Alba Camelia. It was mounted, but I am away from home much too often to keep it sprayed, so I potted it in bark. I almost potted it in Leica but decided bark might be the easier transition from mounted.
For some reason I can't load my photo.

I got my cattleya walkeriana... it's a coerulea form called 'monte azul'... I ordered it from tropical orchid farm... and let me just say, well you can see from the image below, their plants are always phenomenal... I mean look at the number of pbs, look at the roots!...

It was growing in a plastic pot with no media, in hawaii I imagine things are very wet so they grow a lot of things this way, especially things that need to dry out. i took a picture after I carefully took it out of pot.

(The whole order was really amazing. I've ordered from them quite a few times over the years and they've always been stellar. Been having bad experiences with my regular CA vendors, so this was greatly welcome... and realizing I need to support vendors like them more... )

I potted it in a clay pot with a little bit of orchiata. After a talk I attended recently by a grower/AOS judge/emmy winner costume designer, I'm trying out the virtue of the classic clay pot with it's ability to wick water into it and keep roots cool... it will be sitting in a glazed larger pot where water can sit at the bottom a bit between waterings since we're finding out this species needs ample water when growing. The bottom of the pot inside is lined with gravel.

Yup, that is a real healthy plant!

I agree! Very nice, u bada!

Good luck with your new one, BillieG! :)

An update on one of my semi alba 'Carmela' bag babies. First pic shows a recently matured pseudobulb that I have a suspicion could flower this fall. I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that leca is the only way to grow Catts. When I can get a division off of my nobilior I'll know for certain!

Ubada, that looks very healthy. I was just thinking of how you would pot something like that with that really long rhizome ? I'd love to see a picture of it potted to see how you did that. I have a couple of Catts that are throwing new leads all over the place and I don't really know how to handle that. :)

New leads are great! :)

Regarding wandering Cattleya rhizomes: bil from Spain who posts here has shown photos, of other plants in his growing area, that include, in the background, some of his Cattleyas. I don't recall him ever writing about these Catts. They are in very large and shallow plastic pans, the kind you might use for washing a lot of dishes, but a little larger. They are filled with bark, and set in a bench inclined at about 30 degrees, so a short end of the pan is down. They are filled with his favorite extra-large bark. I am guessing there are drain holes in the pans, but I don't know for sure. I'm going to send this message to him and ask him to comment.

Hi Estacion seca.

Here's a few pics. I think the more complete ones are in the pc that has crashed. If necessary I'll go and photograph one of the ones that are no longer being used.

Thee trays are the 'saucers' for big rectangular pots, and I put a plywood 'T' at one end to give them a bit of an angle. There are holes drilled in the lower end where it touches the table for drainage.

The Catts were wired to the trays with soft wire, and then a single layer of bark chunks, 2" sieved was laid on the bark. I ended up watering them every day, to ensure they didn't dry out too much, as that single layer doesn't hold much water.

The roots grew prolifically. I one pic I am holding up the Catt to show the mat of roots that filled the trays, that mat is half a metre (about 20 inches) long, so they achieved that in less than a year.

Now this is the odd thing. There were 15 or more catts there, and NONE developed roots that wandered far. They all stayed below that single layer of bark, and if one did extend out when they hit the end, it pretty soon stopped growing. Also, effectively all the growth was uphill. (The plants were attached at the bottom of the slope, and there were almost no roots exiting at the bottom, - or the sides.

The tips of Catt roots are green, but they seem to have no interest in photosynthesising at all, preferring to stay in the dark.. odd, when you think about it.
In the end I decided that the trays were taking up too much time, and if I could get them up on mounts that would free up space for more orchids, which was clearly the way to go. So, I wired lumps of moss onto the branch mounts, put the orchids onto that and wired another layer of moss over the roots to keep them moist until new ones could grow.

and grow they did. However the odd thing was that the roots seldom grew out of the moss, and when they did, they tended to grow straight back into it again, a bit like a child's drawing of a sea serpent with its body in and out, undulating thru the water.

In fact, some of the mounts are starting to look like balls of roots all wound about and thru each other, while a few roots set off up the naked branches but these tend to stop growing after a while, and the tips collapse and die off as tho they are there to anchor the plant and not to have any other function.

My observations so far lead me to think that in Cattleyas at least, the green tips of the roots are not for photosynthesising at all, but act as a light detecting unit to detect when they have entered a patch of sunlight, which then triggers asymetrical growth in that tip to curve the root round so that it will hit something solid that it can burrow into, or attach to.
Thinking about it, that's what my phal roots do too, as are the three dubious Catts that are still in my shallow 25 cm diameter pots. Their roots burrow around in the pots like crazy, but once they leave the bark, and emerge into the light, they do not go far before they die off.


If I am right, then the roots are escaping the pots because they are trying to anchor somewhere, or are in search of new moist spots, and won't go far. If you have any that are going far, maybe the plant would be happier in a larger pot?

u bada that is a nice plant. I have been trying to find some smaller like bulb pots. My mini C. are growing all over the place.

Subrosa your plant looks really good also.

Thanks bil.

I agree! Nice looking walkeriana!

I'll take a picture of the new one I just potted up.

Thanks for the pictures and description, Bil... and for you direction of his attention, Estacion...

What i've observed with many catt's and catt alliance- and I was just discussing this with a friend recently, is that the roots will definitely cling tightly to a mount, which i think is beautiful... as opposed to say, barkeria (a catt alliance exception) and vandas, their roots just shoot every which way whether there's a mount or not, and sometimes dont even both to attach...

This need to find niches for darkness and moisture that bil describes may support why they do this. Also by clinging to the trunk/branch/mount that leaves only half the root to lose water through. Maybe this is because cattleyas come from areas where there is at least some period in the year when it is drier.

I usually do better with mounted plants even in my rather dry/warm climate, but now I'm spraying and dunking so many plants all the time, especially now it's been hot, that keeping things potted seems to be the way to go. (except I have like no horizontal space for pots lol) I always was taught and read that walkeriana's need things on the dry side, so learning it to be otherwise means keeping this one a pot may make sense.

Just looking at Subrosa's walk makes me think about how they must like having roots in moisture... really looks happy.

I'm potting things with orchiata now because I don't "believe" in repotting very often, had too many experiences where messing with roots sets plants back, but what I've learned with the neofinetias i got earlier in the year grown in a sphag mound, is you really have to water well, and give a couple days or even a week (depending on weather) to let a potted plant like cattleyas dry out a little.

Update on my growth:
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...ede47a3b56.jpg
It's a leaf!

Cute baby, love the angle, Healthy.

Yeah, if that moss doesn't dry out you are screwed. If I HAVE to put moss in a pot, I like to put three small balls equidistant around the edge of the pot, put the orchid in the middle and fill with fine bark.
I have a neofinetia that I have shoved onto a mount. Not much leaf growth, but there are two massive roots winding about the mount.

Mounts do need more attention. I have quite a few. I go round each morning with the spray, there are I think about 60 and it takes me about half an hour to do them all.
My Vanda is just hanging there, I can't imagine HOW I would mount it as the roots are very long and would snap in an instant if I bent them.
So, to keep them damp for longer I have surrounded the roots with Spanish moss.
It looks like hair.