How deep to pot cattleya in S/H so new root growths doesn't become desiccated?

[Subrosa]

I fill the pot with leca up until just below the drain holes, position the plant so as many root tips as possible are touching the leca, then fill around the plant up to the level of the rhizome, even if the plant sits low in the pot. If that's the case, I wait until I see a good amount of new roots then pull the plant up a bit and add more leca. I repeat as necessary to get the plant looking good in the pot.

[Ray]

Looks good, Eleanor. Anything that slows the evaporation rate will help.

KC - while I am not a fan of any organic "cover", my second sentence applies to your question, as well.

[Optimist]

Absolutely place the rizome on top of the lecca/other media (whatever you use). I lash it on with long zip ties. I use sticks (twigs) under it to keep it in place, or lash it to mesh or the pot itself using zip ties. In time roots will start to dig into the medium and then they will keep the plant from falling over.

The fallback is "in the wild."
In the wild, the plant would grow from seed to seedling to adult plant in the same place. The roots would anchor it, and even if a part of the plant went bad and died, the rest would keep on going. In captivity, the plant is going to be constanly re-potted, and it will never grip on to anything for long. This is why I love semi-hydro and planting orchids on medium that does not rot. Because the plant suffers from less re-potting, the plant is able to grow a thicker root mat. The root mat attracts beneficial bacteria and other plant-positive things.

The pot actually does not need to be "deep" it needs to be wide. This is basically the only beef I have with semi-hydroponic, and that is that the pots are somehow wrong. All orchid pots (except terrestrial orchids) should somehow be shallow and dish shaped. My biggest cattleya is in a shallow Walmart dog dish with holes drilled in it.

[EleanorChang]

Thank you for everyone for their suggestions.

Semi-barrier is going well so far - staying moist between my 3 day watering schedule.

Originally Posted by Subrosa

I fill the pot with leca up until just below the drain holes, position the plant so as many root tips as possible are touching the leca, then fill around the plant up to the level of the rhizome, even if the plant sits low in the pot. If that's the case, I wait until I see a good amount of new roots then pull the plant up a bit and add more leca. I repeat as necessary to get the plant looking good in the pot.

@Subrosa - doesn't this damage the roots tips?

Originally Posted by Optimist

Absolutely place the rizome on top of the lecca/other media (whatever you use). I lash it on with long zip ties. I use sticks (twigs) under it to keep it in place, or lash it to mesh or the pot itself using zip ties. In time roots will start to dig into the medium and then they will keep the plant from falling over.

@Optimist - I am struggling to visualise this in my head......would you have an image of this? If it's not too much trouble, I would love to see your cattleya set-up in the doggy bowl.

[Optimist]

ingredients: Extra large plastic dog bowl/ long zip ties. Use lecca, bark or whatever you need in the dog bowl. Remember that you have to drill holes for zip tie and also for drainage. Makes a cute hanging planter too!

Okay, so the theory is that epiphytic orchids lie on a flat surface more or less. I questioned whether this could actually end root rot. Roots do "desiccate" because they die off, just like leaves die off. A root is not a forever thing. Do they last one year? I don't know. You will always see old ones beginning, growing, aging, dying off. Those are the dry roots. Maybe their death can be xcellorated? I don't know.

[Subrosa]

Maybe it does damage the tips, but it the tip of a healthy root gets damaged, the root branches.