New Orchids From Andy's - Cattleya colnagoi and Cattleya longipes

[Lil Duck]

Quick update, I have re repotted the two C. colnagoi from a bark mix to a sphagnum collar as the bark mix dried out far too fast and I had to water every day to multiple times a day to keep up.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by Lil Duck

Quick update, I have re repotted the two C. colnagoi from a bark mix to a sphagnum collar as the bark mix dried out far too fast and I had to water every day to multiple times a day to keep up.

I can understand the desire to keep moisture up, especially with the plants being on the rootless side. But once you see evidence of roots, this may not be what they need long term - in nature, they spend most of their lives dry (and in baking sun though with some humidity) - roots reach down into cracks to find coolness, a bit of moisture, and some nutrients. But mostly they're exposed to a harsh, dry environment on rocks or on Vellozia bushes. In fact, I wonder if the loss of roots was from a month of being rained upon. A few years ago (the last time we had a period of extended rain) I lost several "rupis" due to staying too wet. This time, I moved mine under the eaves so that they didn't stay soggy - and they are in mostly small gravel, which holds no moisture except on the surface of the pebbles. Just a little bit of soil that has probably largely washed out.

[Lil Duck]

My want to put them in sphagnum has more to do with my ability to water. Although they would likely do fine in the previous mix my schedule does not mesh well with the rate of drying that the mix experiences. The sphagnum also has the added benefit of keeping the plant much more stable in the pot than the bark mix and bark would also keep falling out of the pot. I will very likely pot them in bark or granite when they graduate from tiny shot glass sized pots. I do not think that the roots would have died at Andy’s due to rain as I vaguely remember reading a post saying that the Rupicolus Cattleyas were grown in a covered shade house, unless you are saying that they dried out too slowly due to the rain.

I appreciate your input though and I will keep it in mind.

[Roberta]

I don't recall whether the area where the rupiculous Laelias live has a roof. (Been a couple of years since I was there) I just recall it being much brighter than the rest of the growing areas... maybe there's a roof, which would blow that hypothesis.

[Lil Duck]

I've found the post I was talking about, it is post #132 page 27 of Project 2017 Rupicolous Laelias.
Project 2017: Rupicolous Laelias

[Roberta]

Nice! That is the the current growing area for rupiculous Laelias. So it does have a roof. It has mesh on the sides (I think it is "hardware cloth"), so has really great air flow, and much less shade than the rest of the nursery. I think it's smaller than the note suggests, maybe more like 10 ft by 20 ft .

[Lil Duck]

Quick update
Cattleya longipes is growing roots from both new growths which is great because most of the old roots were rotted or in bad shape. The smallest C. colnagoi's new growth is just beginning to open and going off the timing of C. longipes will grow new roots in around a month. The larger C. colnagoi has done nothing sadly. I did decide to just keep them inside, however they are receiving the brightest light possible in a southwest facing window along with my other Catts.

[Lil Duck]

Another update.
I found a rouge bush snail while inspecting the larger C. colnagoi's pot so I unpotted them again (I know I know big no-no) and gave them another coffee soak and a very good washing. I caught the little buggers just in time as the smaller C. colnagoi is just beginning to sprout new roots, some of which already showed bite marks or damage (Also nearly a month later as I predicted). They are now sitting bare root to fully make sure that any stray snails don't make it. This time I plan on potting them up in a more rocky mix of 3 to 4 parts pumice to 1 part chopped (steam treated) sphagnum. The larger C. colnagoi and the C. longipes are also now sprouting new growths.

[estación seca]

For what it's worth I came across some lecture notes from Alan Koch at Gold Country Orchids. He pots rupicolous Laelias in aquarium gravel with a top dressing of sphagnum.