Catasetum - To water or not to water ?
 

I said I would experiment with my After Dark catasetums because of my "contrarian" watering. They are grown in the same conditions and are roughly the same-sized.

Pot watered 1x per week for last 9 weeks ( A )
- about 1/4 cup a week. Watering always on opposite side to newest bulb. This has 3 new growths. 2 are definitely new bulbs, the third I'm not sure yet. In another thread there was extensive discussion on whether water stopped new roots from growing into the media. As you can see from the photo, the 2 new bulb growths are developing roots.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...55fae95d23.jpg
Pot watered 1x per week, roughly last 3 weeks. ( B )
- about 1/4 cup a week. Watering always on opposite side to newest bulb. I checked today and noticed 2 new growths - still tiny, but definitely green.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1815d01c3d.jpg
early conclusions
in my conditions it seems that watering has not set the plants back at all. In fact the opposite has occurred and I am getting a jump start on the growing season. A has a 6 week headstart on B. I've never had more than 1 new growth per bulb. A has 3, and B has 2 ! Roots are developing well. Of course I don't know what is happening to the roots inside the pots.

Ill update monthly, knowing full well that there's many a slip twixt cup and lip.:D

I'm curious to see roots inside the media and the roots you can see as they dive into the media.

Wait until the new growth is at least 3 to 5 inches then resume watering....do not worry for your bulbs are fat and can provide nutrients to the new growth. You would also repot before giving it a watering regimen to provide space for the new roots growing.

? I'm getting all these growths despite watering. You've just repeated standard lore which my experiment disproves even at this early stage.

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It will be interesting to see the relative sizes of the pseudobulbs as they mature. By watering carefully on the opposite side from the newer bulbs, you are apparently preventing rot in the newest growths.

Do you plan to repot these plants? I'd like to see the roots when you do that, if you do. I bet they don't go dormant as would the roots on a plant that has not received water. The question is, which method will give the strongest new growth ?

Fun experiment!

Good luck with your experiment but disproving Fred Clarke and his SVO orchid growers who has been growing and creating hybrids of this kind of orchids for years might be quite ambitious. You better experiment with several species and hybrids rather than a handful to really present us with accurate results.

I may have to repot the 3 growth plant. Time will tell.
I used to believe that all the roots died during dormancy but that was in the days of using plastic pots only and not watering during dormancy. I changed my mind when I started using clay pots. When unpotting, many of the roots were "greenish" and it was a battle detaching them from the clay pot. I subsequently read that clay pots can also absorb water and this probably kept some of the roots "alive". All my catasetums will go into clay pots in March or sooner.....and I will start watering as per the experiment. ( unfortunately the experiment plants are in plastic pots ).
The way I look at this is that the sooner you get new growths, the longer the growing season and it is thus logical that the bulbs will be bigger. Time will tell. :twocents:

You can also look at this from the viewpoint that the watering - all taking place before new growths evident - stimulated new growth and maybe, just maybe conventional wisdom has it wrong. I was thinking that with big growers and greenhouses, and 1 or 2 growths per pot, and hundreds of pots, it would be difficult to water in 1 spot. The plants in this experiment are large and have 4.5.6 growths........and I can be careful with my watering.

The clay pots may contribute to the survival of some roots, but I repotted a Ctsm. tenebrosum yesterday, in a plastic pot, not watered since Thanksgiving, and it still had a few greenish roots too. They are really tough!

It's a common saying that you can ask 3 experts their opinion and get 4 answers. For years I believed that phals shouldn't be grown in pure sphag because of what I was told..... until I tried it and now 95% of my phals are in pure sphag because I now believe it's the best media in my conditions. Most people would vehemently disagree.
With catasetum's I am suggesting that there is an alternative that can work. I am also encouraging people to experiment as windowsill growers have unique, varied conditions ( easily adapted) compared to mass growers.
Caveat emptor.

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I shall follow this thread with great interest. I'm a great believer in experimentation.
Wrto phals, I always advise anyone new to the hobby to shun moss like the plague and stick to coarse bark, as for a beginner, moss can prove very dangerous.
If you have the nous, you can grow them in anything, but moss requires that bit more attention to detail and grasp of the subject that most beginners just don't have.

I can see my big phals stepping onto mounts this year after they have bloomed.