Bloom Event - Cattleya (Potinara) Young Min Orange

This is probably the strongest orange orchid I have ever grown. An odd opener I know, but it's true. A nice miniature, too, so it doesn't take up much space. One thing it is missing (as do many orange flowers) is a scent, which is a shame as it has a strong influence of Cattleya aurantiaca (from which it gets its colour, its size and its excellent heat tolerance).

The colour is quite spectacular, I'm sure you'll agree.

This plant, along with the rest of my Cattleya, had a bit of a crisis earlier in the year with scale insect which resulted in my scrapping quite a lot of them because I couldn't get the plants clean (persistent little critters, they are). This one was far from being the worst affected and seems to be clean now, though I am watching it (and the others) like a hawk.

There are two growing points on this plant. The largest of them is the largest the plant has ever produced by quite a long way and it is this one that is in bloom with the tallest flower spike of its career and bearing the most flowers (7). The second growth, which has just matured, will probably not produce flowers because I foolishly made a back-cut (which doesn't seem to have worked) and only left two pseudobulbs (plus the new one just matured). The next growth should flower, though.

Notice the blooming growth is much larger than any other on the plant. I really have no idea why this should be, but I'm not complaining. Possibly the particular species in this hybrid's parentage have contributed to its heat tolerance, specifically Cattleya aurantiaca, as mentioned earlier.

Last time this plant bloomed, I'm sure the flowers were more crowded on the stem. This time they have nice spacing and don't interfere with each other (a common complaint with Cattleya). Also, the flowers didn't last very long at all, seeming to go over within a few days of opening. Not so this time, and I'm fairly confident that the first flower will still be in good condition when the last flower has opened.

There are a couple more Cattleya coming up to bloom in the near future (must be because I threatened them), so I will be posting on them in due course.