How to grow a cattleya hybrid...in an orchid pot with no media?

[SShide77]

Hi,

Heres my question, I've had a Stima. Kelly Lea for a few months now, and it seems to be doing great! It has several new growths, a few new roots and has bloomed twice from two different spikes already. I have it in the original pot i bought it in, which then i have sitting in a ceramic orchid pot with many holes in the sides and bottom for the roots to breath.

I've heard that Stima. Kelly Leas like air to get to their roots, so I have been considering taking it out of the plastic pot it came in and planting it right in the orchid pot. If I do this, should I plant it in the orchid pot with some fir bark, or other media, or should I just let it sit in the pot like I would in a wooden basket?

Also, I do I need to wait until this is done blooming to replat? Is their risk of losing the flowers if I replant while its blooming?

thanks,
Sarah

[Vivienne]

I have a Stlma. Kelly 'Lea' (note you have STIMA - it is STLMA).
My plant is in a wood basket with NO media at all - or at least none is visible. I have had the plant for over a year and when I received it it was firmly established in the basket. It would be a MAJOR surgery to remove the basket as the roots are wrapped and wrapped and wrapped around it. The plant is THRIVING constantly growing new roots, new growths and new spikes.

[SShide77]

How often do you have to spray the roots of a plant that has now media? Ive never grown anything in a basket before.

[jerrymeola]

You can not wait for it to stop flowering since it is capable of flowering continuously for ever.

I have had them well established in a basket without medium and mounted two from 2 inch pots, that have grown roots everywhere.

A warning, my two mounted ones had stopped flowering for over a year and also not growing. I had two and let one go to the president of a local Orchid Society. His started growing immediately. Thinking they were not getting enough water in spite of the roots, I increased watering drastically and the it started growing again.

Water a lot like they were Vanda.

I do not see any reason they would not like the pot, but they do look good in baskets or mounts.

[Vivienne]

Agreed with everything Jerry said. With my particular Kelly 'Lea', I water in once a day. Mine is kept in my master bath, so over to the shower she goes, doused with water and hung back up.

[epiphyte]

The glazed ceramic in a typical orchid pot retains no moisture while the wood in a wooden basket retains some moisture and hence functions as a really well drained media. All things being equal, you would need to water the orchid in the ceramic orchid pot more than the same orchid in a wooden basket.

[SShide77]

I see. Do I need specific conditions in order to grow an orchid in a basket? It is doing well where it is now, so will it do well in the same location if I put it in a basket?

[epiphyte]

It depends on the type of basket, whether or not you'll use media and how tolerant of decreased moisture the orchid is.

Generally speaking, if you want to grow the orchid in a regular wooden basket without any media and the orchid is not that tolerant of decreased moisture levels then you will have to water the orchid longer and/or more frequently than you do now.

If you want to water the orchid the same as you do now, but want to put it in a regular wooden basket then you'll need to include some bark. The smaller the bark, the greater the surface area, the greater the moisture level. Because the drainage is much better in a wooden basket then it is in a typical plastic pot, the bark should be somewhat smaller than the bark it is currently in.