Short-lived Cattleya flowers

[Lars Kurth]

This spring I repotted and heavily divided most of my Cattleyas. I had to do this, because the growing conditions in my greenhouse changed and the Cattleyas did not dry out properly and took heavy root damage. So I moved to a much more open substrate and smaller pots, watered less and got lots of new growth (including root growth) this season.

As the first set of Catts flowered, I noticed that plants which had previously kept their flowers open for 2-3 weeks opened and closed flowers within a week. My suspicion is that this is an energy saving measure by the plants. Any experiences? Could it be an indicator for something else, e.g. viruses (although the leaves look fine and fresh)

Lars