Question regarding care of a small Cattleya aurea (= Cattleya dowiana var. aurea)

[Catt Mandu]

Hi Natali

Sorry you had a bad experience with the wine corks! I have been using them on Cattleya alliance and Vandaceous plants for a few years now (since 2010 or 2011 maybe?) I have a few plants that I moved into corks back then that had almost no roots (they could not tolerate bark, even when my other Catts seemed fine with bark; not sure why). I lost one that was probably a goner anyway, but the others have tremendous root systems now. It was definitely an experiment back then, but for certain plants, it has become one of my standard practices.

One of my "rootless" plants from my initial experiment is a Cattleya Wayndora that I got in 1985. It was in pretty sad shape, no roots, very dehydrated, but I had read about someone else using wine corks, so I thought I would give it a try. Right now, that plant is in sheath for the first time in probably 10 years!

Ray, thanks again. I will aim for keeping them hydrated in the winter, but not a lot of water, per your suggestion. I'll withhold fertilizer until I see active growth starting. I probably need to "red tag" the C. dowiana to remind me, no fertilizer.

[Nataliwind]

Hi Natali

Sorry you had a bad experience with the wine corks! I have been using them on Cattleya alliance and Vandaceous plants for a few years now (since 2010 or 2011 maybe?) I have a few plants that I moved into corks back then that had almost no roots (they could not tolerate bark, even when my other Catts seemed fine with bark; not sure why). I lost one that was probably a goner anyway, but the others have tremendous root systems now. It was definitely an experiment back then, but for certain plants, it has become one of my standard practices.

Great!! I guess we just choose a media which works the best for each of us. Maybe I will try it again... I have plenty of corks