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.

Bloom Event - Iwanagara Apple Blossom

What a mouthful. I usually call it Cattleya apple blossom because there's no way I'm going to try and pronounce that. At least not in front of people. Besides, it might not even be called that anymore. At any rate, this plant is a good grower and reaches frightening size rather quickly. Leaves are longer and strappier than many Cattleyas, and there are usually three or four to a pseudobulb. The flowers are on the small side for a Cattleya but they are produced several to a spike so the plant always manages to put on quite a show.

As I've probably stated in earlier posts, I'm not generally a fan of pastel colours; I find them rather wishy washy. I find the colour combination on this rather pleasing, though, and the colours really glow in sunlight. As a bonus, the breeder has managed to keep the fragrance of whatever species it has in its background (yes, I know its easy enough to find out, but is there really any point?). In sunlight, the scent is really very strong which earns it brownie points from me. Two flower spikes this time, one with six flowers, the other with four. On a plant this size, I expect better. This hybrid seems a bit weird actually, because it tends not to flower off the newest pseudobulbs; the two spikes we have now have come of quite old growths. Most of my Cattleya are a bit odd with their flowering habits, and they might not bloom until new growth has started, but all of them bloom on the newest mature growth. Don't get me wrong; it's not the end of the world, but it does make the blooming on this plant rather unpredictable. I'm sure its only a case of working out what the bloom trigger is.

The sharper eyed among my audience will notice that the foliage on this on is a mess. I used to put my plants outside for the summer (well, in an unheated greenhouse). The plants respond well in general to this, but there really is no way to control the dratted pests, and this plant in particular plant is just a magnet for scale insect. They like Cattleya in general, but this one must have some special attraction for them because it was just riddled with them. On the foliage and the pseudobulbs this isn't too much of a problem, but they like to hide away on the rhizome and places you can't reach with spray and you often don't realize there is a problem until there is a severe infestation.

Of course, I know my enemy a lot better than I used to, so infestations are getting rarer. Also I shan't be putting plants outside this coming summer. This plant is about to undergo an attack with the soap spray which is without a doubt the best bug killer I have ever encountered. I used to use Provado sprays and potions, with some effect, but I always felt that the pests were getting resistant to them. Since I have been using soap I have seen far fewer scale insect, mealy bug and spider mite in my collection and the plants are looking noticeably cleaner (no pun intended). I have a theory that systemic insecticides only have a limited effect on many orchids because they only have a limited amount of stomata (the pores through which gases and water vapour can pass in and out) which really limits how much of the chemical can make its way into the plant, thus limiting how effective systemic sprays can be. This means that sprays working by physical action should be much better. I use liquid soap flakes at a rate of two capfuls per five litres of water. The soap isn't poisonous to the bugs as such. what it does is lower the surface tension of the water (surface tension is what makes water form droplets on leaves) so the water forms a film over the surface of the leaves (and the bugs), so they effectively drown. Provided one sprays thoroughly, this physical control is very effective and there is no chance of the bugs becoming resistant. Frequent applications are necessary to catch hatching eggs but since the spray doesn't cause any harm to the plant that isn't a problem. Additionally, lowering the surface tension of the water also makes the spray an excellent wetting agent so if plants have become drier than is ideal, a soap spray is really useful for re-wetting them.

New Plant - Guaricyclia (Catcyclia) Plicaboa

I went for a jolly to Ashwood Nurseries today. I wanted to look at Clematis for my back garden but, shock horror, I came back with an orchid. They were having an 'Orchid Extravaganza' meaning, mostly, a sea of Phalaenopsis, but at the back of the display I found this beauty.

It was labelled as 'Cattleya', but it clearly isn't Cattleya. In fact, according to modern nomenclature, it doesn't technically have any Cattleya in it at all, though one of its parents is what was until quite recently known as Cattleya bowringiana. These days it is known as Guarianthe bowringiana (who can even pronounce that?). That lovely purple colour comes from the Guarianthe parent. The overall habit of the plant comes from the other parent, Encyclia plicata. The leaves are solid and sword shaped and quite unlike any Cattleya-esque plant I have ever grown.

So, the correct name for this plant is, I believe, Guaricyclia plicaboa, having first gone by the name Epicattleya, and then Catcyclia and who knows what else before that. It should be a warm grower so will do well in my growroom. It looks like it enjoys conditions on the dry side so I'll have to be careful on the watering when it isn't growing.. As you can see, the lead growth is now at the edge of the pot, so I'll have to repot this fairly soon. I've had a little scrabble about in the growing medium and the roots appear healthy (which is more than can be said for plants I have had from a specialist orchid nursery on the continent recently - more to come at a later date), so it should be a fairly easy job to pot it on.

Bloom Event - Cattleya Pastoral Innocence

I was in a shabby mood so I decided to write a blog post from some outstanding (in time, not quality) photos that I hadn't got around to posting yet. They have only been sitting about for a week or so, it's not as if I've been sitting on them for months.  Buena Vista Social Club playing in the background (not in person, obviously), I could almost imagine a glass of something ice cold, crystal clear and very strong in my hand. But I'll make do with my cup of Earl Grey tea instead.

I have had this Cattleya for some time, and have gradually nursed it back to health. I think I upset it slightly by repotting it. At the time it had finished its new pseudobulb and was producing roots. Only a couple of weeks after did I notice buds appearing from the top of the newest growth. A sheath would have been nice, I might have had some warning then and held off repotting till after flowering. As it is, I have disturbed it, so the blooms are smaller than they would otherwise be.

Yes, its another of those big blousy Cattleya that I shouldn't really like (I'm not a fan of big blousy flowers in the garden, after all), but I just can't resist them. Scented, of course. This plant seems to produce quite large flowers in proportion to the size of the plant, almost always in pairs. As with the other Cattleya that are reaching a 'size', after a couple of years I shall try to get the plant to produce more lead growths and so increase the overall flower count. It would be even better if these separate growths would time themselves to bloom at the same time, but they never do.

I really like the splash of daffodil yellow at the centre of the flower. Pure white flowers can look a bit bland and flat, just a tiny splash of colour can really lift them. As you can see, the plant is looking a bit tatty with some black marks on the leaves. Unless they spread, I don't worry too much about them. Cattleya can get a bit battered over the course of a few seasons since they keep their leaves for quite a long time.

Just recently, I have been selling off some excess plants (mostly plants I have more than one of) to make some room in my growroom for plants I want for myself.  I'm quite particular about what I'll sell, and I wouldn't send out a plant I wasn't happy to receive. The main reason for this is my own insecurity about being an orchid grower, and knowing what other people are like. Especially the medium of eBay is hell on earth. A plant got returned today, so not only has it cost me the postage AND the final value fee, but somehow I also end up with a slur on my reputation, and I've done nothing wrong. And get this....If I'd decided I wanted the plant back, I'd have had to pay ANOTHER lot of postage for the privilege of getting my own plant back! I can well understand why people get annoyed with it. For me personally, I take criticism very personally, especially when I know i'm being fed some spurious rubbish and the customer just wants a free plant. It is much easier to just refund the money and block them from buying again, which is exactly what I've done. I feel sorry for the sellers they buy from in the future after how I've been treated. So, in answer to the inevitable question:- No, I shan't be falling over myself to sell more plants in the future. Frankly, I'd rather they went in the bin than put up with this again. I probably shouldn't have said any of that but this blog is, as they say, very much my party, and I'll say what I jolly well please.

Rant over, I guess I'd better go and find someone who'll butter my ego! An hour in the orchid room should help.

Bloom Event - Laeliocattleya Gold Digger

This plant never fails to perform. It seems an easy grower and a regular bloomer. They are not large flowers, by Cattleya standards, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in colour, with the striking yellowish orange. It seems to be an unspoken rule among Cattleya that the brighter the colour, the smaller the flowers tend to be (and usually, though not in this case, the size of the plant as well). The smaller flowered hybrids tend to have more flowers per spike, though and are more likely to have interesting markings. There are quite a few cultivars of LC Gold Digger around, but I wouldn't like to attempt to guess at which one my plant is. If any of my readers know for sure, please do leave a comment below.

While my back has been turned, it appears that the taxonomists have been at it again. This plant should now correctly be labelled as Cattlianthe Gold Digger. I'll have forgotten that by tomorrow. I shan't be in a rush to change any labels as I've no doubt that there will be yet more name changes in the future. I always said taxonomists need an eye keeping on them. Laeliocattleya Gold Digger (as was) was registered way back in 1974 and is a hybrid between two hybrid parents. Its complex genetics are the very thing that makes it so easy to grow, a phenomenon called hybrid vigour.

This is rapidly growing into quite a large plant, and has already been both potted on and divided a couple of times. Next time, I shall just cut the rhizome behind the leading four pseudobulbs to encourage the plant to make new growth from the back, and give me more flowers (at the moment there is only one lead, so only one flower spike at a time).

The one annoying thing this plant seems to do is that the pseudobulbs crack as they swell towards maturity. Not that it is a particular problem as I don't show my plants, but I do worry that it might let an infection in at some point. None of my other Cattleyas do this, just this particular one.

As ever, it is potted in coarse bark chips. I really have found that Cattleya do much better in a coarse medium with growth being stronger and roots being less inclined to wander. There is a new generation Cattleya that are really diminutive (full flowering size at only a few inches tall), a couple of which have found their way into my collection (a particularly vibrant one will wend its way onto this blog in the coming week), and these do fine in medium bark chips.

This hybrid carries a very pleasant fragrance which is, at least to my nose, reminiscent of roses although it isn't overpowering (at least not compared to the other very overpowering things also in bloom at the moment).

Bloom Event - Cattleya Ann Balmores

What a stunner. I had forgotten just how big the flowers on this plant are (either that or the flower size is increasing as the plant puts on bigger growths). They are larger by far than the flowers on my Vanda blue magic or any of my Phalaenopsis.

When I first got this plant, there was no purple on the petals at all, they were pure white. The flowers did not open quite so fully (these flowers are almost flat looking from the front). As I remember, this plant was among a mix of 'Cattleya large flower mix' that I got from a big plant distributor on the continent (yes, the same one that supplied me with the half dead Brassias; shame on you!). It was in a poor state with no live roots, broken down potting medium, pseudobulbs cut off, really shameful. I had credit for the plants, but they shouldn't have been sent out in that state. Says a lot for their quality control, doesn't it? Mostly, the plants were so poor they went straight in the bin, but I kept this one as it was still showing signs of life.

It slowly recovered. As any orchid grower will tell you (and as I have pointed out in a previous post), Cattleyas are painfully slow to do anything until they've a mind to. I repotted into fresh growing medium immediately, but still had to wait months for the plant to put out new growth and, in turn, new roots. Luckily this one roots out while the new growth is relatively young, so recovery was a little faster than it might have been. Now we are a couple of years down the line, the plant is growing (comparatively) fast, and pseudobulbs are increasing in size season on season. I have even managed to sever the rhizome a few pseudobulbs back and the plant has responded by producing a second lead which will begin to flower in a year or two.

Another view. I don't know why I fell in love with this one, but I think it is absolutely beautiful. Add to that it has a good scent and we have a real winner on our hands. I don't know if the flower count will increase in the future, but the size certainly has.  The blooms measure six inches top to bottom and across. I expect them to last around two weeks.

I have it potted in coarse bark to keep the root zone well aerated, and the pot appears to be quite full of roots. There is still space for another season or two of growth but after that I will have to decide what to do with it next. Cattleya are not easy to accommodate once they start to reach a large size as they take up a lot of horizontal space. It would seem a shame to divide it, though.

Bloom Event - Cattleya No ID

It's a real shame that so many orchids are sold without names. The going rate for a generic 'Cattleya' from a 'garden centre' seems to be in the region of twenty pounds, when they are available at all. I really resent paying 20 pounds plus for a Cattleya if it doesn't even come with a name, no matter how beautiful I might think it is. And, of course, it's the same old story that we get with so many shop-bought orchids; some treatment they receive before they get to the end grower (almost put consumer there, which implies 'chuck in the bin after blooming') has killed all the roots and there is inevitably this nail biting period after blooming but before the plant puts out new roots where we wonder if it will make it at all.

When you add into this the annoying habit of some Cattleya to not produce new roots until its new growth is completed, and my point blank refusal to pay full price for a poorly cared for orchid with no ID, you'd think we had a recipe for disaster.

As luck would have it, I find Cattleya generally rather hard to kill, other than with kindness. The actual plant I'm talking about here is no exception to this, as you'll see. I bought this one from one of the aforementioned 'garden centres' off its bargain bench for very little money. It definitely wasn't in flower so I very much took a chance. I have to say, I'm glad I did because the flower, at least to my eye, has very good form.

I really love the non-flatness of the flower; as I've said in previous posts, i tend to dislike flowers that are very flat. The flower is only just open and filled out, but there is a scent developing. Scent is one of the things I really do like about Cattleya.

It's not too big and blousy, although it is a good size flower for the size of pseudobulb the plant produces. The flower count this time is rather lower than I'd like. The plant usually produces two flowers per spike, but there's only one this time. There is more than one growing point on it, but they are out of sync with each other and so flower at different times. I have a few ideas for the species its been bred from, but I wouldn't like to speculate too much as there's no way to be sure. It is strongly bifoliate, intermediate in size and is very vigorous indeed.

I forget exactly how long I've had this plant, but three years seems about right to me. In that time it outgrew its original pot and is now in the process of climbing over the edge of this one. I have put slits down the sides of the pot to let air in (sadly, I didn't foresee that this would also let the roots out but the plant seems happy so I oughtn't to complain). After blooming, I'm going to try to encourage the plant to produce more lead growths by snapping the rhizome a few pseudobulbs back from the lead growths. This should leave enough energy in the leads to still grow strongly and bloom, while encouraging further growths to form from the back of the plant. In future, this should lead to far more flowers being produced. I know it probably needs repotting, but I'm in no rush to do so as the growing medium is still quite fresh. I will say I haven't the faintest idea whether I managed to remove the original growing medium it came in, but judging by subsequent root growth, I'd say probably not. Still; if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?

No ID Cattleya Revisited - Multicoloured flowers !

Well. How interesting. A few days ago, I published a post concerning these Cattleyas and their flower colour. I very helpfully include a photo below to refresh our memories.

The pink was quite strong on a plant that last year had white flowers. Interestingly, another bud opened today off the same plant but a different flower spike. The following photo shows the result....

Barely a trace of pink at all. During my original post I mentioned that the only significant difference I could think of between last year and this is light levels. When an orchid comes into bloom in the growroom, I move it into my living room so I can enjoy the blooms. This particular plant had two flower spikes, only one of which was open when I moved it. The second spike finished its development under lower light levels, and the buds have opened white. I think this pretty much proves my point. I do expect these new flowers to flush pink, but I doubt they'll be as strongly coloured as the others.  Ooh, I do love a mystery !

Bloom Event Update - Brassocattleya binosa

When I first started this blog, my first post was about Brassocattleya binosa. I have several plants which are just approaching flowering size. I had talked about the disappointing markings on the petals of the flower that was open a few weeks ago. Well I'm pleased to say that another plant has opened a flower which has much better form. Maybe these plants are seedlings and are quite variable, but as you can see in the photo below, this one is much improved.

Note the lack of markings on the petals (aside from the lip, of course). I shall mark this plant out as having good form. I know it isn't perfect, but it is promising for a first blooming. There is a third plant in bud, but the bloom looks like it will be misshapen, we shall see.

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.

Bloom event - Sophrolaeliocattleya little hazel

I got this from Chantelle Orchids a couple of years ago and I really is a true miniature, only standing around three inches high. I assume that gorgeous deep red colour comes from its Sophronitis parent.

 I should point out now that I'm almost entirely sure that under the most recent nomenclature, this hybrid is probably just a Cattleya, rather than Sophrolaeliocattleya as I've titled it. Yes, that's right, the taxonomists have been at it again. I understand the need for accurate naming, but the constant name changes really do get confusing. I quite liked the old name as even though it was much longer, it did give some hint as to the parentage. I always feel with big genera (Dendrobium is a case in point) that they are so diverse in their species' habitats, habits and even morphology that the name really tells us almost nothing. Under the old system, if we see that Sophronitis is present in a hybrid's parentage, we immediately expect diminutive plants, often with strongly coloured flowers, large for the size of the plant. We might also expect plants to be more tolerant of slightly cooler temperatures.

Whatever it is called, this plant is a good strong grower, if rather slow. I would have preferred more than just the one flower, but then beggars can't be choosers, can they?