Cattleya Rex & Dowiana Semi-Hydro
 

Hey all, I had posted some time back about how I had been trying out semi-hydro on a Cattleya Dowiana rescue... Which wasn't bought as a rescue, but turned out to be one when I got it. It was basically rootless. I've had that plant now for about a year and a half now, it's just kept getting better - now pushing two fairly large growths at the same time (the second time this plant has done so in the time I've had it).

Well, all that success had me wondering how it might work with Cattleya Rex. I have two or three Rex's of various age, but I got the chance to get a mature imported plant (early birthday present) and jumped on it. When I got it, it was growing in pure LECA, though not semi-hydro, but I thought, given it's stage of growth (already had a decent size growth with the beginnings of a sheath) and the fact that it was already in LECA of some kind, I thought I'd try establish it in semi-hydro with the knowledge that it should be pushing roots fairly soon. I thought for sure, given the stress of a import, plus a change to semi-hydro would for sure give me a blind sheath with no buds... But the pictures I attached speak for themselves, four flowers and a boatload of new roots. It actually started pushing roots within a couple of weeks of being in semi-hydro and a good few weeks ahead of any buds forming.

I just thought I'd share where things are right now and my current success to date, I will keep an eye on things, and do my best to keep conditions where these plants like. I'm somewhat hopeful that, even though it's completely the wrong time of year, one or both of my Dowiana growths may flower - it's probably still a bit to small though.

P.S. - I love that orchid roots typically need lots of air around the roots, but for some reason, my Dowiana has grown some roots which are 100% submerged underwater year round. It's crazy how adaptable these plants can be.

That is beautiful!

I'm glad you emphasized moving to S/H at the correct time, just as new roots were expected.

Pretty much any plant will grow roots into the reservoir.

As long as they grow into it and were not potted up that deeply, the plant will be better than the ones that haven’t yet done so.

Great photos!

As seedlings, both dowiana and rex appear to be susceptible to rot, but talking to more experienced growers leads me to believe that they do not like the extremes of wet or dry. At some point, the seedlings grow and turn the corner and seem to tolerate more moisture. I have a bunch of dowiana and rex seedlings and definitely do not grow them as community pots.

That's interesting as I thought orchids needed to be able to breath through their roots (gas exchange). I guess they can specialize each set of roots differently, some for access to oxygen and others purely for water / nutrients?

Something else to note regarding the transition of my cattleya rex, it looks as if none (well, none visible) of the previous roots died in the transition. I expected at least some of them to go mushy within the first couple of weeks, but they didn't and in fact have started branching new roots off of the the older non-semi hydro roots.

Congratulations, fantastic result! Thanks for sharing another clearly successful way to grow these.

The flowers are really beautiful and the roots look healthy. Your Cattleya must be happy that way!

Nicely done! There's nothing I love more than seeing a big flush of roots winding down through a semi-hydro pot.

Wonderful! Thanks for sharing. I may try a few of my dowiana/rex seedlings this way as an experiment.

David