Favorite Indoor Cattleya Media
 

What is your favorite media to use with Cattleya grown indoors and why?

We picked up our first 2 Cattleyas this past week. One is in a 2" pot with bark, the other is in a 6" pot with gravel. I think we are going to stay with bark for the little one, but I haven't decided what I want to repot the larger one in (not really that large of a plant, I'm going to go down to a 5" pot which will still leave him room to grow...). Leaning towards LECA but want to hear suggestions.

Red lava rock! I love it because you cannot over-water, it doesn't deteriorate, you never need to repot (just put the entire thing in a large pot and back fill) and the Cattleyas seem to like it. You need to flush well to get rid of excess fertilizer, though.

LECA is nice if you have time to water it enough, I like to water about every 7-10 days so I prefer the bark mix.

Thanks for the feedback! I was originally leaning toward lava rock, but I noticed the local greenhouse had theirs in lava rock, which made me wonder if it was necessarily the best choice for in-home use if it was also their choice for in the greenhouse. I'm probably overthinking it.

Everything else we have currently in is bark mix, so that's always an option too, but I thought cattleyas might want to dry out faster than that.


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The orchids in bark mix are watered weekly.


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I like the semi-hydroponic method for Cattleyas. There is an entire forum here devoted to S/H.

I think it just comes down to how you are able to care for it. Do you have time to water nearly every day, or are you away on business sometimes, how humid is your home, etc. etc.

How often do you water your cattleyas in lava rock?


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That depends on temperature, humidity and air movement (and whether you have Cattleyas that have a cycle that includes a rest period). When I grew the large, once-a-year blooming orchids in the window during the winter, I don't think they cared too much if I skipped a week of watering. The ones that didn't rest, I watered about once every four or five days, giving them each a good soak for a few minutes. This worked for the Phals and Dendrobiums, too, also in red lava rock. My home temperatures are around 60'F during the winter and I don't use a fan. Humidity varies during the winter. Under lights, I water about every other day as it gets a good deal warmer and the lights dry everything. I also use basket pots or plastic Vanda baskets for all the orchids so this helps to dry them faster. Clay pots would probably retain the moisture longer.

I really love the rock and, after trying other mediums over the years, most of my potted orchids are now again in lava rock (there is that Cyncnoches and Phrag that are in LECA).

I love using lava rock for my cattleyas too. I use a mix of small red lava rock and tree fern fiber. I just purchased a Phrag, and i'm wondering why you use LECA? Does it hold more moisture than lava rock? Do you do it S/h?