When looking at the plant in-pot, without inspecting buried roots, the
symptoms of "too wet" are pretty much the same as those of "too dry."
Either way, the plant looks dehydrated -- because if you keep the plant too
wet, the roots rot and can't transport any water to the green parts that
show. If you've been growing your Catts and Dens in the same mix, and
watering them on the same schedule, as your Phals, I would suspect that the
former are lacking in good roots. Oversize pots, mentioned in another post,
will aggravate this problem. Kenni


"BruceM" wrote in message
...
So I should have a glass of wine and share it with the Cat's ? Which cat,
The Red Emperor or the Maine Coone?

Thr Phal's seem to be a it less sensitive to drying out than the Cats and
Dendrobiums (based on watching mine). would that be a correct general
observation? Watching these over the last year, they seem to prefer it if
I let the medium get dry just a 1-2 inches down and then water them. The
phals seem to like it if I let the medium dry 3-4 inches down (4-6 inch
pots).




"tenman" wrote in message
...
BruceM wrote:
In your personal experience, what is a good medium for Dendrobiums and
Cattleya's?

I have several new ones and a few older ones. The older ones were
repotted in Better Gro Phalaeonopsis mix, a general purpose mix of Fir
bark (about the size of a quaerter), hardwood charcoal, and a bark like
peat material . BG had several other mixes for orchids, the big
difference being no Peat in the others and one had a smaller bark
chunks.


The cats seemt to do okay in it. They grow, new shoots, Several Kekei's
, no flowers on any of the older ones (on one sI have had 1.5 years ).
The dendroibiums appear to hate it. Most of them sit there, a couple
have new growth. The Phal's go crazy in it. Looking at the books, it
seems this should be a okay mix, but experience is always better.

Also, for watering: In general do Cat's and Den's like more water than
Phal's? I water them on the same schedule, and some are oky, other show
signs of needing more water such as wrinkled new growth, shriveled
pseudobulbs, etc
I use both a 2/3 medium bark/ 1/3 #3spongerock mix and a 2/3 large CHC/
1/3 #4spongrock mix for mature catts in clay pots (small seedlings are in
a finer mix in plastic). In the bark they are potted harder (tighter) and
the CHC is used as a looser, more open mix (which creates issues of how
to physically immobilize the plants). Both have worked ok, though in clay
pots and my traditional dry conditions, the CHC has an edge. That said,
it will depend a lot on your humidity levels and as well on temps and
light as they affect metabolism and how much water the plants use. Dens I
have in 'seedling mix' of 2/3fine bark and 1/3 #3spongerock in clay pots
potted tightly.

A common misconception from which I myself once suffered concerns water
levels. Orchids are water-loving plants when they are in their growth
phase and with optimum conditions. Some such as vandas and catts don't
want to sit in water constantly or be soggy but they do need copious
amounts of water - the confusion is in thinking they don't need water
because they don't want to stay wet. Ideally they should be wet, then dry
and then wet right away again (during growth and in the daylight). The
problem is that we stick them in pots and limit the air movement around
the roots and packed medium and then we have problems we blame on water.
So in culture, it's a balance you're looking for based on all those
variables. This second glass of wine is making me loquacious.