r/Cattleya

Part of my Mother’s Day gift was an order from Premium Rare Orchids (Cattleya bundle). I was on their Etsy page yesterday reading the full description they said: We do not recommend the use of sphagnum moss, perlite, or charcoal on any orchids. Contrary to popular belief, it is great for other plants and some phalaenopsis; however, not good for orchids. The roots of most orchids avoid perlite and charcoal and Sphagnum moss retains too much moisture. We recommend a mix of Leca, Orchiata bark, coconut chips, and a slow-release fertilizer.

Has anyone bought their plants and used a different mix and it worked? I use a different mix for my Catts and leca would be new for me. I’m trying to determine if i should stick with what I know or try their mix for best results.

Photos attached of the current situation and one of my orchid in happier days.

I completely repotted this orchid in new media a couple of weeks ago. Since then I have watered it and then let it dry out completely a few times. I have not added any fertilizer yet.

When I repotted, I found a lot of dead roots and a lot of sphagnum moss wrapped up in those dead roots …. so I took out everything that was dead and removed all the sphagnum.

I repotted it into a new pot with a lot more ventilation than the previous one. I was surprised at how many healthy roots I found when repotting. There are many healthy roots underneath as well as on the opposite end from the yellow pseudobulbs.

The discolored leaves are particularly concerning because the discoloration has been progressing slowly down toward the pseudobulb. The large, very discolored leaf is attached to a relatively new and healthy psuedobulb.

I previously cut a couple of other leaves back but I didn’t understand about sealing the cut before so I procured some Mexican cinnamon and I’m grinding that up to create a paste before I cut this leaf. I’ve also been sterilizing my cutting tools with alcohol.

I’m located in Los Angeles and this is actually my first time experimenting with having the orchid outdoors in indirect light, but with more sunlight than before. I did this in large part because my new home is quite dark inside and I am struggling to figure out where to put the orchid for adequate light and airflow.

I definitely fucked up because it was outside during this very wet LA winter with that sphagnum at its core which I suspect caused water problems. I’m just not sure if that’s the entirety of my problem and/or whether I need to use a fungicide or hydrogen peroxide as well.

Thanks in advance for recommendations. 🙏🏻

I got this species last summer from a seller on Ebay. The plant was super dehydrated with no roots, so I just potted it up and let it sort itself out, hoping for the best. Now, almost a year later, it's fully rooted into the medium and sending out new growths and these cute flowers.