Quote:
Originally Posted by estación seca
If it's taking 8 days to dry I would consider not soaking the moss when watering. Dip the top surface of the pot upside down into water for 1-2 seconds only, so the water diffuses through the moss.
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I think that approach makes sense. Back in the days when orchid-growing as a hobby was taking off and instructions for would-be novice growers were becoming standardized (largely guided by the AOS) such partial watering was not encouraged. According to those guidelines, orchids should be watered until copious drainage occurred. Consequently, sphagnum moss was reserved for terrestrials and other moisture loving orchids (together with a far greater usage of clay pots than today). I admit to being infused with this approach.
A lot of that may have been because of the method and amount of fertilizing which also was so standardized, and such flushing discouraged the build-up of "salts" over time. These days people are using a lot less fertilizer so less build-up occurs. Also noticing that MSU Fertilizers readily available recommend fertilizing orchids in sphagnum once a month, but still with the reduced rate (which I expect will help so much with surface scum as well).
So, I will try very hard to take your advice. Sphagnum does become quite light even before it is quite dried out, which means that air begins to be reintroduced into the medium fairly soon after watering. This structural characteristic does make it attractive and tempting to use it as (in my opinion) a cross-over medium. Aside from that, there does seem to be something about the nature of cattleya roots in particular that requires them to experience a degree of actual dryness on their surfaces between waterings if they are to remain healthy.
This is mostly why I continue to not understand potting cattleyas in sphagnum in the first place when bark seems to work much better with far less fussing.
Thanks for engaging on this.
Hybrid Mode
