c. dowiana seedling culture

[DebsC]

I have a c. dowiana var rosita seedling with new growth. It's a small seedling in a clay 4 in pot living in my greenhouse. Winter day time temps regularly climb to the high 80's and night time temps hover around 50-55 F depending on the outside temps.

I know this species likes a lot of bright light and good air exchange but what about watering since it has the new growth?

Should I water like the rest of the catts or start cutting back since this is already October?

[IdahoOrchid]

Without seeing a picture a "small seedling in a clay 4 in pot" sounds a bit out of proportion to me. I would drop it down to a 2 inch or so pot.

Also, as long as it is growing and putting out new roots, water as usual.

[Rosim_in_BR]

Your dowiana is a beautiful dark purple variety that I wish I could find here. Unfortunately, I have never found it available. I grow three seedlings of dowiana aurea (or Cattleya aurea, now), all of them mounted and so far they are doing well. DebsC, Chadwick has a page with precious info on how to grow dowiana. Maybe you'd like to follow this link and take a look at his article: Cattleya dowiana

[isurus79]

I have also have some rosita seedlings and they are putting out new growth as well. I just keep watering them as long as they grow. I figure that dormancy plays a crucial role with flowering and since your not going to get flowers for a few years, try and get the seedlings to grow as fast as possible! As long as you can keep it warm, just keep watering, fertilizing, etc as normal. Hopefully then you'll only have to wait 3 years for flowers instead of 4!

[DebsC]

Thank you all for responding. The Chadwick article was very informative. After reading it, I think I'll mount little dowiana on a Cypress stump to give it an atmosphere closer to the environment that it requires.

Good luck to those growing c. dowiana!! I think the wait will be more than worth it!!!