Cattleyas in S/H?

[Baloney]

Hi All

I've been reading up on S/H for a few weeks now, deciding whether I should give it a try.

Am just wondering though, does anyone grow cattleyas in S/H, and if so what tips if any can you share?

[blackorchid]

Wait until the plant starting new root growths at the base before transplant into S/H would ease the shock and help the plant establish. Keep the humidity around high to prevent the plant from dessicating before the new roots reach down into the media. In my case, a week after I transplanted my Catt from bark into S/H, seemingly, all the roots turned brown and die. Therefore, you should expect that the plant will have no root for a period of time, therefore, humidity is important.

[Tindomul]

I agree, I almost lost my C. jenmanii because I just went ahead and put it in S/H while it was not growing. It basically lost all of its leaves and roots. I do have a root stub or three now and two new growths. This is the only reason its still alive. However, I have almost all my of Catt alliance in S/H and they are doing well.

[blackorchid]

I have one that is established in a 6" S/H pot. Its leaves are exceptionally hard even with a humidity of 30% at my room now due to the fact that water is always abundant at the root zone.

[Oscarman]

For best results - repot when in active growth, with root tips growing. That way there will be much less set back.

The only challenge I have found with Cattleyas in S/H is those adventurous roots - they are constantly creeping out of the pot and waving in the air!

[Ranchnanny]

Hey there Baloney, I have mini Catts all of them are in s/h medium. As soon as I recieved them from the grower I repotted them in s/h and they are doing fine. They are in an Orchidarium. I also have mini Catts mounted on cork bark and they have just taken off.

Sheridan

[Baloney]

Phew! Thanks for the info guys - so it's doable to put Cattleyas in S/H... but ok notwithstanding that you do the repotting when they are in the growth phase, do you also need to trim back the old root growth a bit (or a lot?) when repotting? Is it just to make sure they don't dangle too deep into the S/H medium, or some other reason? I've seen the nursery owner in my area trimming back old root growth when he repots so I assume that may be needed when repotting into S/H as well?

Or does trimming back old root growth not matter, ie. just make sure the roots are placed at a level above the reservoir in any case?

[kavanaru]

Baloney, just a tip when I moved my catts to S/H, I did it when they were in active growth as recommended. However, I found that some plants (especially fine rotted ones like C. bowringiana) reacted a bit against the system and their roots started to grow upwards and out of the medium. Ray laughed when he read what I did to solved it, but believe me, it worked: I just "forced" the roots once a week to grow into the medium by taking off the upper layer of LECA, pushing down the roots and covering them with the LECA again. I repeated taht as long as the roots started to grow downwards and seeking the water reservoir.

I have no clue why some plants did it, but with this treatment I solved the problem and my plants are rgowinghappily in S/H since almost one year, and many of them have already bloomed in this medium!


and as per your question, YES, ensure the roots are placed above the reservoir! They should grow later into it if they want, but if you put the roots tinit or too close to it, they will most probably die (I learned my lesson too )

[Tindomul]

The old roots should be cut off if they are unhealthy. Some people cut off healthy old roots because they may rot in S/H because of the new growing conditions. But I don't do it.

[Ray]

I follow "Tindo's" method, but only cut good roots if they are just too extensive to put into the pot without 1) submerging them, or 2) bending (and breaking) them.