Bloom Event - Cattleya No ID

I got these plants last Christmas to sell. There were five plants and I sold one. I am very glad now that I didn't sell them all. This isn't because there's anything wrong with the plants; there isn't. When I got them, the flowers were white. Yes, definitely white. Imagine my surprise then, when this flower opened.

The sharper eyed among my readers might notice that this flower definitely isn't white. The colour came after the flower had opened, but it still wasn't white even then. It is a very beautiful flower, and it has a wonderful scent. The view of my hand must also give some idea of scale, too. Meanwhile, another plant from the same batch has opened some flowers now.

It is, if possible, even pinker ! Again with a good scent and good size. I would love to know how the plants were grown at the nursery. I can only conclude that they are forced in some way. Also, I do wonder if the colour is intensified under brighter light. I have noticed that a lot of my Cattleyas have more intense colour since I have been growing under lights. Not sure why this is, but one theory is that I have to shade even Cattleyas from full sun, whereas they don't have to be shaded from the lights so maybe they are getting more light. Adding strength to this theory is the fact that plants grown under natural lights in this country have to put up with quite a lot of rather dull weather. This is England, after all. Under lights the photoperiod is the same every day, same intensity. Maybe on balance they get more light this way.

I doubt that the person who bought the plant last Christmas will remember who I am, or be reading this, but I apologise to them nonetheless. Sometimes I make a mistake. So sorry about that. Ahem. Moving on...

These plants have made good growth this year, mostly with more than one new growth per plant. The darker of the two plants pictured has another flower spike on the way. Another plant from the batch has a spike coming, too. I'll be interested to see how it comes out, and I'll link back to this post when the flowers open.

I will have to do something with all of the plants once blooming has ended as they are all over the edges of their pots now, and I think they need new growing medium. That'll be a job and a half. I expect I'll end up with far more than four plants, too.