Any good medium grade mediums...

[lance]

I am thinking about purchasing a large number of CAtts bareroot and am wondering if anyone knows of a good medium grade potting medium that i could use. I am completely clueless

[trinigirl]

Potting medium would depend on what kind of environment the orchid would be in.

Where is Richland? Would you be growing inside or outside, in clay or plastic pots?

[E-Jag]

Hi, Lance
Actually, the potting medium isn't as important as keeping the plants stable in their pots. Some people grow them bare root like a vanda, in a wooden/plastic basket; most, probably, grow catts in medium bark which has been presoaked for a day or two; some, like me, are switching from bark to a s/h material like hydroton in a pot or basket. All require somewhat different watering frequencies and methods - and THAT is what you need to acquire a feel for.

[jay]

I did a lot of Cattleya repotting a week ago when I was at Sunset Valley Orchids. I was working with Mini-Catts repotting Fred's stud plants. The mix he uses is a 2:1 mix of medium bark:large grade peralite.

Something I learned is to not just fill the pot with the medium, but rather really pack it in tight with the Cattleya. I thought it was rough, but this is how they are done with great success.

Personally, I have all my Cattleya Alliance orhcids in S/H. They seem to adapt quickly and really thrive in this method. As E-Jag and Trinigirl have already stated, it really depends on your culture technique and your enviornmental conditions. I live in a very dry environment and need the extra humidity and water that the S/H method offers.

What are you getting? Can't wait to see the pictures.

[lance]

I was going to put them in my orchidarium, so I could keep humidity up and temps stable. Richland is in Michigan, so its get cold here. I was planning to buy these from Royal Orchids CLub(Ebay)
Blc King of Taiwan
BLc White Spark
Blc Tainan City
Blc Chia Lin
Blc Chun Yeah
Blc Yen 24 Karat
BLc Lucky Strike "Mongkoltrakul"
Catt Anzac Jewel
Lc Chan Hsin
Lc Long River Compton
BLc Chia Lin "New City"
Blc Almakee
Lc Maris Song
Blc Lucky Stripe
And one of their ten pack seedling specials.
I thought that this was excessive until at looked at solay's purchase

[dounoharm]

have you checked the feedback on that seller???? its always a good idea to competely check the feedback record of a seller....particularly one who sells in such massive quantities....you might want to research some....

[lance]

Looking at the feedback i have decided that the seller is not exactly that hot.

[orchidlover55]

WoW!! I am real glad you checked on them lance... That was alot of orchids. I live in Alabama and I have mine in firbark they do real good in it.. I don't have them in anything else but firbark. I just fertilize them once a week. I haven't been growing orchids but six months but in those six months they have grew alot.

[dounoharm]

Originally Posted by lance

Looking at the feedback i have decided that the seller is not exactly that hot.

there are lots of good sellers on ebay...dont give up buying there, just be aware of the feedback and do your research before commiting to a deal there...you generally get what you pay for with orchids....lots of good online sellers too....carmelas offers a terrific deal on cattleyas right now, 20% off i think....

[PhalPal]

I have most of my catts in shredded coco husks from repotme.com. The stuff isn't cheap if you have a lot of plants, but I am just loving the stuff and include it in most of my mixes for all of my orchids. It's great for orchids that like to dry out and not have a soggy mix, but the water is available to them inside the husks. Great stuff!!!

[Sugar Magnolia]

Originally Posted by lance

I was going to put them in my orchidarium, so I could keep humidity up and temps stable. Richland is in Michigan, so its get cold here. I was planning to buy these from Royal Orchids CLub(Ebay)

I recently ordered from Royal Orchids Club. I think they ship like once a month so mine should be coming in about a week. I'll let you know how they are when they come!

[lance]

i'll be waiting for the news..

[Leisurely]

Lance, Both Angel Orchids and Angel Street Orchids are having a 25% off sale. You might want to check them out.

Angel Orchids - Cattleyas, Phalaenopsis & More! : Cattleyas
Angel Street Orchids, Quality Orchids from Maui

[jerrymeola]

One of my tenets got a shipment from them, which was surprising since I gave the tenet orchids all the time.

They charged $38 for shipping that cost $6. That was more than all the orchids were worth but cost another $50 for the orchids.

Do not confuse these bare-root with bare root divisions with are mature plants.

No hobbyist should be buying bare root without a lot of experience with them. Think of them as a 3 week old child who you want to let take care of itself as it it was an adult.

You have at most 3 days from removal from the plug trays or compots to re-pot before you have serious problems. I used to buy from the same supplier and I would lose 15% with the best of care. If they are re-shipped without being potted the losses will be much higher. To use my child analogy. A child not fed for one day is like an adult not eating for a week. It is the same with plants. Consistent early care is critical.

50% were dead on arrival for my tenet. No recourse from Royal Orchid. I gave her replacements.

These plants were 2 inches tall seedlings which take very different care. And the prices are not cheap. Many were without names.

To answer your question as to potting medium, commercially we pot these in almost pure peat moss. As I said care is very different and they need to be re-potted regularly. This is not something for beginners. Do not buy a pretty picture and think your seedling will look like that. At best you are looking at 4-5 years growing and loss of most of them. Save your money and buy 1-2 nice flowering plants. You will have much more pleasure.

Sugar Magnolia
If they tell you they ship only once a month then I would guess they collect orders, order from Hawaii and they repack on arrival. This is way too long for a plant to be bare-root without water. I even stoped buying from the Hawaiian grower since even two days without water was more problems than I wanted. Seedlings need to be shipped in the growing trays. But then you are buying about 100 of each type. Some Hawaiian growers take them out of the trays bare-root to ship smaller quantities, but as I said 15% loses with the best of care.

[WoWElf]

I've bought from the Royal Orchid Club before. There shipping does take a while to come. Some of mine are adjusting and are starting to grow new roots. I bought mostly Phals and Dends from them. Although, I have killed some too but that goes along with other orchids from a store also. Possibly due to my newbie experience. I haven't bought any Catts from them. If you do end up buying a ten pack set, you can always e-mail the vendor what kind of cross it is. When I received my ten-pack, they were all barerooted and with a little tag with numbers. I e-mailed them what the numbers were and they gave me the name. I ended up getting a free plant with the shipment. I am only speculating here, but if you look at the seller Bill asia, I think he may be on this forum too. Okay good luck with ebaying. Bye.

[PhalPal]

Originally Posted by Leisurely

Lance, Both Angel Orchids and Angel Street Orchids are having a 25% off sale. You might want to check them out.

Angel Orchids - Cattleyas, Phalaenopsis & More! : Cattleyas
Angel Street Orchids, Quality Orchids from Maui

Really??? A sale?????? From one of my favorite vendors????? I'm off............

[Bolero]

Firbark sounds like a good place to start, I use pine bark usually but am also trying Cocount Chips at the moment. Either one should be good.

[kmarch]

I used to live in Michigan Lance, in Ann Arbor. I used a combination of medium bark, medium perelite, and medium charcoal for my cattleyas. I bought almost all of my cattleyas locally form Michigan vendors: Porter's Orchids in Lansing, Taylor Orchids in Dundee. I also bought from Hauserman's, Oak Hill, and a few others in Chicago. Do a search here on the forum for members' favorite vendors.

[lance]

thanks, kevin. I decided that ROC was not the best way to go. I might just need to make a trip to Lanising (for business, right?)