Zagopetalum ID+ pot & medium advice
 

New to the board, so no promises my pics will post, but after passing this orchid, probably a half dozen times in a month at the nursery I’ve been getting my perennials and shrubs from for two new beds, I finally decided I was going to give a Zago a go. I’m a little intimidated because my understanding is they aren’t very forgiving. All that being said, there was no hybrid ID tag pushed down into the soil just this sticker in the photos below. Can anybody definitively ID this species? And if so, and you’re sure, would you recommend a slotted pot or a regular pot as it may be a full blown terrestrial or maybe a semiepiphyte?? There’s conflicting information about how to pot these babies. Btw my guess on its ID is Zygostates QF Alanna Love (clone).
PS how do I attach photo without them turning 90 degrees?;)

That's a beauty. It's not a species, certainly a hybrid. And since many hybrids look similar, usually impossible to be precise about which one. However, the care of most of the Zygo hybrids is the same. They don't like to dry out. It should do fine under the same conditions as Oncidium types. Other folks will have some more specific ideas for you.

As far as the pictures go, that's a "feature" of the aged software that supports Orchid Board. If you save the photo to computer hard drive, open it in your photo editor of choice, rotate 90 degrees and same, then rotate it back to the original position and save again. That usually resets the metadata that indicates the orientation. We're all used to looking at photos sideways, though.

As Roberta mentioned, Zygos do not like to dry out.
To minimize the watering:

I recommend plastic pots (clay dries out too fast), and slots/holes are not needed (other than bottom drain).

You can pot in either:
a. Spaghnum/bark in 4:1 ratio
b. My Cymbidium mix, consisting of:
4 parts cedar mulch
3 parts composted cow manure
1 part bark (1/2"-3/4" size)
1 part coarse perlite

I have seen them grown in bark mixes, but that requires very frequent watering.

They don't like heat, and they prefer very pure water. If your local tap water has a lot of minerals, use reverse osmosis or rain water.

I potted zygopetalum in 1/4 inch lava rock and that is working well for them. I am watering them with tap water (it is hard water) and flushing the pots well at least once a week. They do dry out a little in between but not for very long. I fertilize now and then with a liquid organic fertilizer or the leftover hydroponics fertilizer. I did keep them inside for the summer so that they could enjoy the air-conditioning.