Cattleya Drumbeat 'Heritage'

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Such a beautiful cattleya. i love how healthy and well grown it looks too.

cheers,
BD

[Nan]

Stunning !

BTW why aren't you repotting it (this is a question from a novice!) ?

[tucker85]

Stunning !

BTW why aren't you repotting it (this is a question from a novice!) ?

I love big specimen cattleyas so I very seldom repot or divide them once they're in a fairly large container. I grow them outdoors in South Florida so space isn't an issue. When three or four pseudo-bulbs in a row are hanging over the side I'll cut that part of the rhizome off and plant it in another pot. I just let the main plant keep going.

[Nan]

I love big specimen cattleyas so I very seldom repot or divide them once they're in a fairly large container. I grow them outdoors in South Florida so space isn't an issue. When three or four pseudo-bulbs in a row are hanging over the side I'll cut that part of the rhizome off and plant it in another pot. I just let the main plant keep going.

Great idea !

[zainal abidin]

Great specimen and wonderful display.

[Orquiadicto]

I agree with Nandini. A very good idea. If you don't mind, I might 'steal' it from you.

[BarbaraL]

Beautiful flower -a golden oldie, Do you repot this plant at all or is it in the open enough to feed like air roots. I have one Catt that looks like a waterfall spilling out of a clay pot. What would you suggest? Thanks

[coeruleo]

wow. haven't seen a drumbeat in a long time.

[tucker85]

Beautiful flower -a golden oldie, Do you repot this plant at all or is it in the open enough to feed like air roots. I have one Catt that looks like a waterfall spilling out of a clay pot. What would you suggest? Thanks

I haven't repotted this plant in many years. Most of the pseudo-bulbs that grow outside the pot seem to circle around and eventually grow back up into the pot. It seems to get plenty of nutrients from spraying the roots with fertilizer once a week. In regard to your plant, if you grow in an organic material, like bark, and it's deteriorated, then you'll eventually have to do something. There are several options available. 1. You can 'repot' by removing the cattleya, cutting off dead roots, cleaning it up and then repotting into an appropriate size pot with new media. 2. You can 'pot up'. That's a process I often use where I get the roots good and wet, then I break the pot up with a hammer. I take the entire cattleya root-ball and move it to a larger container while trying not to disturb the roots much. Whatever old media falls off is fine and what doesn't, gets repotted. Then I put new media in around the roots. This works especially well if you use an inorganic media like LECA or rock of some kind (because the old media doesn't rot) and if you want to keep growing the plant large (which I like). 3. Another option is, if the part of the rhizome that's spilling out of the pot has 4 or 5 pseudo-bulbs in a row that can be removed without too much damage to the roots, you can cut that piece of rhizome off and pot it into a new container and leave the old plant to continue growing. Cutting some of the roots, when you do this, won't hurt the plant much. All three of these methods are best done in the spring when you see signs that the plant is starting a growth cycle. Also be careful not to damage the leading edge of the rhizome with the newest pseudo-bulbs. That's where your new growth will come from. Good luck.

[cakedaddy]

I really love to see big plants like this one! There is the option of "potting on"(?). Just take the plant in its pot and put it in a pot a bit larger leaving space for new roots to grow in the space between pots. With an orchid that is doing so well, I hate to cause any stress on the beauty.
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