Quote:
Originally Posted by james mickelso
I see nice healthy new buds breaking at the base of some of the bbulbs in your pics. That is what you want to nurture. They are next seasons flowers depending on the species. Are you sure they are catts or could they be LC's or slc's or blc's? It makes a difference. Do you know the name of the orchids? The parentage? All of this info is important if you want to get the very best from them. The basics are 70-80 degrees day time and 60-65 at night. Depending of course on the parentage. Most prefer a good drenching and then let them dry out completely. That is why you want a course mix. Wynne, is your spag packed tightly or just loose? I have trouble here at the beach with too much moisture when I use anything other than medium bark. I buy the hard pine bark. I also use lava cinder from a volcano I drive by going up to the sierra. I never have trouble with salt build up. But then again I use RO or distilled water. If I leave anything I get planted in spag, it is dead in a month. So maybe you can shed some light on youyr methods.
|
I grow my Catts, mini catts, Laelia species, sophronitis species, and a few odds and ends in clay pots and New Zealand spaghnum moss. I usually use some styrofoam packing peanuts at the bottom of the pot. I try to pack the moss as loosely as I can. I then use stakes or rhizome clips to anchor the plant in the pot. The clay pots range from 2 inches to 6 inches. I usually don't use the spaghnum moss in plastic pots unless the pot has a lot of drainage. I only grow my two Phals and an Angraecum distichum in plastic pots with packing peanuts in the bottom and the spaghnum moss. Everything does great. I actually prefer the moss to anything else. I grow my plants under lights in my spare bedroom in the cold months so the moss helps with humidity. I grow almost everything outside when it is warm enough. I use those small 4 tier green houses that have a plastic cover so I can control the water while outside(you know about Seattle rain, right?
). I have them (2 of them but might need 1 more this year) on my deck and I tie them to the deck so they don't fall over when it is windy. I keep the front open most of the time unless it is windy. They look like this:
Mini Greenhouse- Four Levels I am more of an under waterer so I don't have a problem with the moss being too wet. I do have to repot almost once a year though because it breaks down and then it doesn't dry out fast enough when it is old. I know of a really good eBay seller that grows mostly catts and Laelias and he grows all his in clay pots with New Zealand spaghnum too. I do have a few bigger catts that are in plastic pots with a bark mix but am changing them over to a CHC mix to see how it goes. I hope this helps! If you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask! Thanks for your interest.
Linear Mode
