At our annual Orchid Society Show weekend before last, I was 'gifted' a Epicattleya Rene Marques 'Tyler'. The previous owner's instructions were:

1. Don't cut off the old canes even though they no longer have leaves as they are still feeding the plant.

2. Don't re-pot as she just had BUT, she planted it rather poorly in sphagnum moss. That will never work in my greenhouse. The roots must have been packed into a very small pot as they are really wound together inside their sphagnum moss ball.

3. Treat it like a Cattleya but with less sun. If I'm treating it like a Cattleya, I would be yanking it out of the pot and putting it in a basket with no medium at all. My other Epidendrums are planted in bark.

This lady grows some beautiful plants but on a sun porch so watering is probably done by hand individually. I got the plant 10 days ago and the moss is still wet - that's worrisome!

I need some advice please.

I treat mine as a Cattleya.. but in a pot with my standard mix. Equal parts bark, charcoal, sponge rock and aliflor..


Mine is just starting to bloom.

It is a blooming machine. Make her happy and she will reward you over and over again. I use bark/charcoal mix and slightly less light than a Catt.

Jim

Thanks Lindsey and Jim. I think there's a potting party in ths guys future.

For my own edification, how do you treat your Catts

Ted,
I grow outdoors under a polycarbonate roof.


Most of the day is this medium dappled light because of the large oak trees to the east and south. For an hour in the early morning the east bench gets a hour of full sun. In the late afternoon the west bench gets about an hour of full sun and the middle bench gets a couple hours of full sun at midday. I grow in clay pots and water once a week.. if it's hot, I'll mist most days. Fertilizer or fungus applications every week

I grow my Catts in baskets without medium or in bark/perlite mix. All are in a southern exposure but there is shade cloth on the very top of my greenhouse so that offers some shade, except this time of year when the sun is so low in the south. In the summer, they get watered daily; this time of year, about twice a week.