A gorgeous display,Sharon. Can't wait for mine to bloom again. Maybe some day it will look like that. Enjoy!

Marci

That really is beautiful. It almost looks like it smells good.
I love the third picture. Sometimes when there are so many flowers the individual beauty of the bloom is missed.

Kevin

Gorgeous: bursting with health and so beautiful. One of my favorite hubrid catts - but I did not realize they can be SO pretty

Olya

A stunning display!~Charm

I just bought one of these on ebay about two weeks ago. Tell me, what kind of conditions does this plant prefer? Is it a heat lover? I didn't realize they got so tall.

dallasgarden: One of the parents of the cross is C. leopoldii, so you can basically grow it the same as for that species. C. leopoldii grows at sea level to 100m elevation in southern Brazil and is a definite warm to hot grower. It also likes lots of light to bloom well, up to 3500 footcandles or so. It'll bloom in lower light, but you'll find C. Bactia has stronger colour and growth in light a little higher than average for Cattleyas.

-Cj

CJ,
Notice that you're in Texas. What city and what are you recommended heat loving orchids for our dry climate? I'm trying to rid myself of the moisture loving mild orchids that I got at Home Depot, Lowes, etc. and focus on one's that do well in our climate. Any input is appreciated!

Dallas: I'm in Huntsvile. Anything in the Vanda alliance is great, as well as most Cattleyas and hybrids, as lon as you avoid things with Sophronitis in. The antelope and Phalaenopsis Dendrobiums are fantastic, for here, but get really big. Standard OPncidiums are good, but avoid anything with Miltoniopsis, Odontoglossum, or such in it. THis is why it is importan to buy named plants, because you can research a named hybrid and come up with a pretty good approximation of the culture needs based on the species in the background.

-Cj

Cj,
I haven't had much luck with Vandas, (maybe I overwater them?) but have had good success with most of my Cattleyas. I agree Miltoniopsis and Odontoglossums never make it! Lately, I've been trying encyclias and having great success. I mount them on tree fiber and water daily.

Overwatered vandas? What were they growing in?

Well, I can grow Miltoniospsis and Odontoglossum, but that's only because I am hard-headed and absolutely determined to grow cool growers indoors (I built a wardian case specifically for that purpose).

Specifically, though, I prefer pleurothallids.

As for Encyclia, for the most part, that is a fantastic genus to grow, here. Get an Enc. atropurpurea or Enc. pheonicia! They have fantastic flowers and fragrances!

Can you tell I'm a species snob?

-Cj

P.S. Have you looked into the orchid society up there? THere are lots of fantastic growers in the Greater North Texas Orchid Society... Lots of good, local growing info!

Here is a link that might be useful: gntos

I had the Vanda in a clay pot with lava rock and watered daily in the heat of summer. I got rot at the top of the growth stem. (the bottom is still alive but I can't seem to get roots to take hold.) Thanks for the info on the Orchid Society, don't know why I hadn't thought to get involved sooner. The best way to learn is from a successful local grower!

What a great display. So that's really a 100% Cattleya? I never knew there were Catts with pbulbs that look like bamboo. What species does it get this trait from. The erect flower spike is cool too.

Matt

That is awesome!!! My plant is only about 8-10" tall and was sold to me as BS. I guess I can stop looking for a sheath & plan on a couple years. I'd be delighted with just afew of those blooms. Great growing.

Sheila :)

Cynae: The subgenera Schomburgkoidea, Intermedia, and Falcata (within Cattleya, and to a lesser degree subgen. Circumvola) all bear rather elongated, cylindrical to club-shaped psuedobulbs with pronounced internodes, ESPECIALLY Subgen. Schomburgkoidea and Falcata. C. leopoldii is a parent of this cross (as I mentioned earlier), and is from subgen. Falcata, section guttatae. Cattleyas from subgen schomburgkoidea, such as C. bicolor and C. tenuis can be 3 and 4 feet tall on thin, barely swolen canes with two or three leaves at the apex with heads of flowers arising from a large sheath from between the leaves. Species from section Falcata have dense heads of flowers, up to thirty on a stem, maybe more.

-Cj

Cyanea: Also, here's a link that lists out the various subgenera and sections (according to Withner) of Cattleya:

Linkidee

-Cj

Wow, wish I had room for that
Maryanne

Here is a photo with the color a little closer to its rich purple. This plant is a poor second to the size of that plant. Yours is just fabulous

Purple does not photograph easily on most digital cameras. I may have corrected the color in processing, but in any event, this color is acurate or maybe even a little richer on the actuate flower.

grannick
look at the insert it is only a 3 inch pot about 7-8 inches tall and flowering, but smaller than the ones I am growing in 4 inch pots (which have not flowered yet). The plant was a 2" pot 8 months ago so they can be flowered early.

I did this with several plants to record the growth and flowering difference based on pot size. Smaller pots bloom faster and larger pots make bigger plants.

The lighting in my GH might account for more of an even pink color. It's twinwall poly which, in bright light, pretty evenly scatters the light around.

I'll have to remember about pot/growth relationships! I'd much rather have a smaller plant that blooms faster than one honker of a specimen to tote around.

Thanks!

Sharon

For Vandas if in right situation, it’s very difficult to overwater. They really don’t like pots or medium especially if not very open and at some point you will get in trouble unless they are in a pot with like wine corks or large horticultural chunk orchid charcoal. They want humidity at 50-70%. Or higher. So you need to have a greenhouse, grow room, natural outside summer humidity or in winter use a room humidifier inside your home or grow room. I think they do best growing on basket extender hooks of the appropriate length - just sit down in the bottom hook end and wire to the extender and hang on a pole with the hook on the other end. No media, no basket. Etc. Water twice a day in active growing season when the root tips are nice and green. But here is the trick — on sunny days water in the early morning until the roots are dark green. It may take several passes and then waiting 5-10 minutes and watering again. If the roots are dehydrated, it make take a bit to get them to start absorbing water. And then do the same in afternoon. In July/August when the temps in the mid to high 90s and up - I water an extra time - you have to determine this based on your environment. Once the plants are well hydrated, it won’t take as much time to get the roots to turn dark green. Note, some plants are a little harder to keep hydrated especially if they don’t have many roots. Those will need more water on the roots. They need high humidity to promote roots along the stems. I fertilize in the morning watering 25 ppm every day. I use K-Lite 12-1-1 with 10% calcium, magnesium and all the necessary trace minerals (from First Rays). I use KelpMax from First Rays once a month as directed. Once a month I use Better Grow’s Orchid Plus 1/2 tsp per gallon and I don’t use the k-Lite for a couple of days. Vandas are heavy feeders and mounted this way, they only get what runs off them - there isn’t any potting medium to hold fertilizer. Do not use a high dose fertilizer- don’t want to burn the roots. What is needed is a frequent low dose each day like they would get in their native jungle habitat. Most orchids like lots of water — the trick is to put them in media that’s well drained enough to take lots of water without rotting the roots and this includes a pot that will drain well too. I like Orchiata (pinus radiata from NZ) with orchid charcoal, LECA and very large orchid Sponge Rock. I like to use use white packing peanuts at the bottom of the pot and find orchid roots like them too. I use Power or Power Plus size of Orchiata so the mix drains very well in a clay pot with slots or holes. Or octagon large hole net baskets, or use a green plastic nursery bulb pot or a regular plastic nursery pot and use a wood burning tool to burn holes into the sides as desired. You can soak a clay pot overnight, put in a vise, use a hole bit to drill the appropriate size - have someone pour water over the pot as you drill.