Favorite Indoor Cattleya Media

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I use 1 quart / 1 liter plastic food containers drilled with 2 small holes in the side, about 1 inch / 2.5cm from the bottom, and close enough that I can cover both with the heel of my palm when I hold them to fill.

I use clay balls from a local hydroponics shop. Before use, I rinse the balls thoroughly to get rid of the dust. Then I soak them overnight in tap water with 1 tablespoon / 15 ml powder of Epsom salts per gallon / 3.78 liters.

I water with rain or reverse osmosis water. I add MSU for pure water at about 22 ppm nitrogen. This is 1/8 teaspoon of powder or 5/8 ml of powder per gallon. I try not to let the reservoirs go dry, but it happens pretty often with the Catts and Phals. The Paphs and Pescatorias I keep at eye level or easily visible and never let go dry. Once a month I use rain or RO with no fertilizer, to flush out the salts.

When I water, I pick up each container. I tip and drain as much as I can into a bucket, so the reservoir will be nearly empty. I hold the container in my left hand, covering the holes with the edge of my palm, and fill the container to above the top of the clay balls, from a jug in my right hand. I set down the jug, and use the fingers of my right hand to dunk the top clay balls. I then let the excess drain into the bucket.

When I am finished I use the spent fertilizer water on other plants outdoors.

I like doing it this way because I examine each plant, each time I water.

My growing areas have had relative humidity between 40%-70%. My daytime temperatures are in the 80s F / 25 C to 100 F / 38 C occasionally.

The visible wet clay level in my containers is never much more than 2 inches / 5cm from the bottom, quite different from what other people report. But the roots are constantly moist, even the ones near the surface.

It has taken my Catts much longer to settle in and grow in S/H than other genera. I have been careful only to move them when actively growing roots. But they do adapt, and grow very well. My Catts in S/H look and grow much better under my conditions than the Catts I haven't moved yet. I have almost entirely seedlings and mericlones that are not yet flowering size.