Sphag culture: walkeriana and nobilior

So, six months ago, I moved all my nobilior and walkeriana to sphag moss in unglazed clay pots. I was very skeptical at the time, since I guess I am a sucker for classic orchid culture knowledge. You know how it goes, walkeriana and nobilior hate "wet feet" and can't be grown well potted. So, while I moved my collection over, I decided to have a sacrificial plant that I would unpot in six months to inspect the roots, if things looked bad I would consider going back to mounting and figure out how to give them enough water here in Texass. And, I have to admit, I stacked the odds. I took a ratty division off a walkeriana plant I had given a friend in Florida before I moved. It had almost no viable roots. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking six month and a new growth later:

 

I was actually not pleased at all with the long term results. My nobilior amaliaes HATED it, they barely made any roots at all the past two growing seasons, and amaliaes are root making machines due to the seasonally dry nature of the habitat. Roots from a single small plant can be 30 feet long and cover much a of a tree in the wild. My violaceas refused to root in it after about 6 months, producing most of their roots outside the media. The only thing that liked it seems to be that one walkeriana, which is doing great still. This weekend I put everything back on cork mounts while the getting was good and they still had root in active growth.

I have a few C. lueddemanniana that absolutely love it. I guess bifoliates are much more finicky.

These are jut my experiences, your mileage may vary.

 

Stephen, if there is some juice left in the bulbs, don't toss it. Mount it, water it several times a week, it will likely survive the winter and make new growth. Don't expect it to do anything until February.