Unfortunately you haven't provided quite enough specific information (how big are the plants, exactly? how big/deep are the pots? What kind of plastic pots (regular/S/H/deli)? etc...) so my advice is going to be equally generic, and take it with a grain of salt.

One observation: You've got a real yo-yo watering system going!

LECA, being inorganic, holds very little water and dries out really quickly.

My experience here in the DC area with LECA outside is that you are looking at once daily thorough soakings (throw lots of water on the plant), possibly twice. Especially for larger mature plants with lots of foliage/photosynthetic area. Watering every half hour for 5-6 hours is definitely overkill, but then you definitely dehydrate the poor things by not watering them for 4 days. I water cactus more often than that in this heat!

Hi Steph, not sure this is helpful as I don't grow in LECA. Since moving to Florida, I have most of my Catts hanging in a nearby tree getting some strong dappled sunlight. It rains here every single day. Hot as can be with humidity off the scales 90+. The rain is intense, soaking everything in sight. Nothing dries out because the air is too humid. So far, month of July we've had 8" of rain.

The rain only lasts for an hour or less. I keep checking my plants for disease because they are so wet but so far everything looks great and making new growths and roots. I have everything potting fairly dry, using rock or large chunks of bark and charcoal.

If I were you, I'd water everyday briefly, just enough to make sure everything got wet. I don't understand what you mean about watering 5-6 hours either. Are they under sprinklers?

I would water every day (which is what happens here) but not for that long. Just drip/dry.

Jane

I've never had a plant in LECA, but now I've acquired two catts planted in it; one large and one small, both in clear plastic containers ... watering once a day in this heat is good to know! I was afraid it would be too much, but the pots dry out so quickly, between being outdoors and the heat.

One more question: I finally got some orchid fertilizer; how often do you feed your plants in LECA? I'm thinking I'll follow the "weakly, weekly" rule, while still watering them with plain water daily.

Here in New Jersey when temps are so high (mid eighties to mid nineties) the catts get watered once lightly every day or every other day. They are outside in good morning sun until noon with shade the rest of the day. They are planted in bark and are semi-mini plants.

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for your input; it sounds like I'm under-watering. I know the watering method I've been using sounds like a yo-yo but I was trying to mimic the dry periods followed by the torrential rains that I thought catts got in nature. Mostly though, I was just scared to death of keeping their roots too wet by watering every day or every other day. I heard that they like to have their roots dry out before the next watering, I guess in a heat-wave, they dry out a lot faster than 3 -4 days.

Jane, sorry for not being clear. They are not under sprinklers; it's just me dunking them in a tub of water every 30 minutes for 5 hours.

Danielle, during the summer when the 'chids are outdoors, I fertilize every time I water and let the rain be the plain watering. I use 1/4 tsp of MSU per gallon of water. I think it's a pretty weak solution since there are no white crusts on the LECA and the Catts do not have any burned root tips or leaves tips.

Terp, I tried to give as much info as I thought was relevant but a picture is worth a thousand words so here they are (a full body shot, followed by a close-up of the root area):

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6" pots and smaller? Definitely underwatering. LECA holds so litlte water, it really does dry out pretty quickly. Up that watering.

Take the "grow them like nature grows them" concept broadly. Nature doesn't baby them, we do. That babying can result in healthier, prettier looking plants that aren't wind beaten or whimsically/randomly hit with overdoses of sun, or what have you. Yes, give a dry season when dry season is due, thats a given. But keep evenly moist during the growing season.

I'm not so sure you have a problem, the older bulbs are shriveling but the newer ones look OK to me.

LECA dries fast on the surface but I would bet at the bottom of the pot it would still be damp. Plus with the humidity we have had this week I don't think the plant or the mix will be giving off much moisture to the atmosphere.

Catts are pretty tough so I wouldn't worry to much. I have a few Laelias and Encyclias in Hydroten that are holding up OK. I moved them into the shade more and hit them with the hose every other day.

On the other hand being LECA you don't have to worry about over watering so, if it's not a burden on you water away.

June was so much easier for us around here.

James

I like the innovative hanging. :)

Ok so a few days ago I took them out of the pots to make sure the roots were not rotting. They weren't so I was definitely under-watering; so I started watering lightly everyday. I un-potted them again today and saw the beginning of root rot.

So I think James is right. I'm not going to water anymore than every other day (which is still more than my 3-4 day watering).

Thanks everyone!

Chat - LOL, I use whatever I have on hand...even disposable chopsticks!

Dragon kite, I strongly suggest you revisit your interpretation of what you see. Root rot from overwatering is absolutely not something that sets in in a matter of just a few days for most orchids we are able to grow indoors, particularly in inert media and particularly in this heat. I've left many plants in organic media sitting in water for a week during the summer while I travelled. They are just fine.

By this logic, any plants that stay soaking wet for more than a few days (even if its from a single watering) should experience root rot on the first go. It just doesn't hold water (no pun intended).

Lots of questions to ask yourself

Was it actually rot?
If yes, could it be because you disturbed the roots?
Could it be because the roots were old and senesced naturally and you didn't recognize it on your first inspection?

If you were saying this a month from now, I'd say yeah you overwatered. But this happened VERY quickly, so something else is up.

This post was edited by terpguy on Sat, Jul 20, 13 at 17:21

Hi Terp,

It's definitely root rot. I've had enough experience killing orchids to recognize it. I really wish it wasn't rot but that mushy blackness is hard to misdiagnose. I'm also surprised it happened in just a week. Then again, I do remember losing a BLC Waianae Leopard due a week of rain.

I'm sure your orchids are doing fine, that's why you gave me the advice to water everyday. I just don't know why it didn't work in my case. Perhaps it's because your orchids are accustomed to the frequency of watering and mine were not. Perhaps it's because we are growing different types of cattleyas. Perhaps there are other factors in our growing environments that factor into the rate or root rot. I don't know.

But it's trial and error. At least I know now that watering every 3-4 days is not enough in a heatwave and watering everyday is too much for my growing conditions/type of catts. And I'm glad I caught it at the onset (this paranoia is also a result from losing too many cats to root rot).

Dragon kite, I don't doubt the rot. What I'm saying is revisit that watering for just a few days is the cause of dead/dying roots. As i said, staying wet for a few days in leca, in summer heat, just can't do it Doesn't add up.

Could it be the plastic pots? If you are experiencing high humidity and heat, is it possible the pots are holding too much moisture inside?

I'm trying to grow orchids in Florida, which everyone says is so easy. Well, the humidity and downpours can rot bricks here, no less plants. I learned very fast that plastic pots don't work down here. Clay or baskets only.

I do agree with Terp that developing rotted roots in a few days seems impossible. But, who knows!

Jane

I don't get it either, but I think Jane may have a really good point. The sun does hit the plastic pots around 5pm when it's still 90+ degrees out. This may be burning/boiling the roots inside. BTW, the catts are shooting out a bunch of new roots to replace the rotted ones now. I'll be able to keep them outside for at least another month so I think they'll have enough of a root system to survive the winter indoors by the time I need to bring them in for the winter.

Jane, I love clay pots but repotting is always painful because the roots are so attached to the clay pots. I always windup breaking more than I'd like. How do you handle the repotting?

You are right about clay pots. I didn't use them as much when I grew in NY because of that. But, there were certain plants that did terribly in plastic and I grew them in clay.

In Florida, plastic doesn't work because the heat, humidity and too much rain during the summer months. I have moved most to clay and the plants in plastic are planted in rock.

I'm embarassed to admit, my plants in clay pots, where the roots grew outside the pot and attached to the clay went into larger clay pots. When it was time to repot, I stuck the plant in the clay pot inside a larger pot. The roots were free to fill in the space.

I would eventually wind up with very heavy plants where some were potted inside 2 or three clay pots.

When I do move plants out of the clay pots, I soak the roots for about 1/2 hr and peel the roots off the clay. Many get broken but I always pot in Spring when new roots are just starting to grow. I don't worry about losing the older roots. They will either branch or just die off. Doesn't seem to affect the plant as long as you time it right.

Jane

I don't use a lot of clay pots, but when I I have a plant 'stuck' in one that needs re-potting, I usually soak it for a while and then tap it with a hammer and pull away the pieces of the pot that are 'free' while cleaning up the roots. The stuck pieces go into the new pot with the plant. I don't reuse pots, so the loss of the original pot isn't a big deal.

One week to develop rot does seem quick...

Bob