what cattleya to buy?

[H.D]

hello!
i am relatively new to orchids, and want to buy my first cattleya.
i know i am demanding too much from you guys, but could anyone look into these sites, and reccommend a nice cattleya?
1. Cattleya Orchids. | Orchid-Tree
2.Buy Cattleya Orchids Online | Guna Orchids

if anyone could suggest a godd orchid that they know, do please tell me!

[Roberta]

What are your growing conditions? Indoor or outdoor? Temperature range? Humidity? You want to select a plant that grows in your conditions, without a lot of effort on your part. The Cattleya tribe includes species and hybrids that have various needs, so start from what you can easily provide to focus in on specific plants.

[Louis_W]

There are a lot of good options there for a beginner. As Roberta mentioned, your conditions play a vital role on your success so do your research on how to grow cattleya and which might do best in your situation.

Most of the plants on the sites you gave are complex hybrids meaning they are the product of many species combined. Complex hybrids tend to be the easiest to grow in general and are the more forgiving than pure species.

I recommend you get two or three of the cheaper ones if you can afford it and just to give them a try. Pick some ones you like and look them up online to get specific information. It's always a bit of an experiment so give it a shot!

[Diane56Victor]

After those important points to remember comes the fun part, what colour do you want, do you want fragrance?

Also consideration must be given to the full grown size, your space will shrink rapidly once the orchid bug gets its teeth into you.

Main thing is to have FUN, its a hobby after all. There will always be more orchids if it goes wrong and you will have gained experience from those orchids.

Please let us know what you end up getting.

[estación seca]

I forgot, in which city do you live? Do you grow inside or outside?

Most of those Catts take similar care. How large a plant do you want? Some are quite short, others tall. Do you want fewer, large flowers or smaller, more numerous flowers?

[H.D]

Originally Posted by Roberta

What are your growing conditions? Indoor or outdoor? Temperature range? Humidity?

Hi!
My climate is very very dry and extremely hot in the summers [ temp goes up to 48 degree celcius, and in summer the humidity is lowish], very humid and rainy in monsoon[the humidity is high like 70 80 p.c.], and very cold in winters[ temp goes below 5 degree celcius]. most of the year the humidity is around 50.
i grow orchids both indoors and outdoors lol if they start scorching outside, i bring them in. we put shade nets over the entire garden in the summer though.

---------- Post added at 02:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:56 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Diane56Victor

Main thing is to have FUN, its a hobby after all. There will always be more orchids if it goes wrong and you will have gained experience from those orchids.

Please let us know what you end up getting.

yes yes yes!!! lol today is my first anniversary of the orchid initiation. my eldest phal turns one today

---------- Post added at 03:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:57 PM ----------

Originally Posted by estación seca

I forgot, in which city do you live? Do you grow inside or outside?

Most of those Catts take similar care. How large a plant do you want? Some are quite short, others tall. Do you want fewer, large flowers or smaller, more numerous flowers?

i live in Nagpur.

well, i got into dendrobium species , and got a lot of them. but i kind of missed the showy blooms. i only have 2 phals,
so i wanted to get some nice violently coloured blooms lol.

i really want HUGE plants with equally HUGE flowers lol. also i love fragrant flowers, and hence i am planning to get a cattleya.

[estación seca]

Most Cattleyas struggle once it gets much over 40C, unless your nights cool down a fair amount, and humidity is also quite high at that time.

We have 40-48C and relative humidity under 15% for several months in late spring/early summer; almost no orchids can tolerate that. I've tried, even the ones the experts say should tolerate it. I have an unidentified Brassavola nodosa hybrid that lives on my patio all year except on nights when we might go below 0C. It survives and grows. Eulophia petersii does fine but not in full sun during those temperatures. However it is not a Cattleya.

Outside your hot and dry period most Cattleya hybrids will do well. So I think you're going to need to move them into the house during those periods.

Of the plants they showed your best luck will be with those having a lot of Cattleya/Laelia purpurata ancestry. At one time it was considered a Laelia but now it is a Cattleya. Many people still call in Laelia. It tolerates high and low temperatures but does need good humidity during very hot times. 5C at night in winter is fine for this plant. Most of the year humidity 50% is fine for this plant. You would only need to bring it in during the hot dry period. This species has large clusters of very fragrant large flowers. I would suggest beginning with one of those.

Cattleya intermedia is well known for tolerating temperature extremes. It is not a huge plant and does not have huge flowers, but they are usually fragrant. Among other places they grow in sand on the beach in Brazil in very warm areas.

The plant shown as Schomburgkia would probably do well outside except during the hottest and coldest periods. They tend to be large plant with 1-2 meter long inflorescences of large, fragrant flowers. I'm not familiar with the one shown.

Many Brassavola hybrids will be fine outdoors for you most of the year. The ancestor species B. nodosa might survive outdoors all year if you water it frequently during the hot season, but it won't take as much sun then. It is native to some areas with a hot, wet summer, and then a completely dry and warm winter for 9 months. Realize these species and their hybrids tend to be small plants with small flowers. The species are very fragrant at night but many of their hybrids are not fragrant. They can be recognized by narrow petals and wide, spotted lips. Both vendors you showed offer a lot of them.

The two nurseries you showed don't provide much description of their plants. You can look up ancestors of registered hybrids at orchidroots.com.

Given what you want, I would say to consider expanding your search and find a nice Cattleya/Laelia purpurata. The one offered for sale on the first site you provided is pretty with delicate colors, but other forms have much more color. The Schomburgkias are also possibilities, though their flowers are not quite as large as C. purpurata. And if you're willing to begin with a medium sized plant go looking for a Cattleya intermedia.

And if there are any orchid societies near you, members may be able to help you.

[Roberta]

Look also for Cattleya hybrids with significant Laelia anceps in its ancestry - the species is very tolerant of high temperatures. (During your hottest times the species might even be OK outside if shaded... hybrids may still need some protection from heat though)

[nhbeek]

While I don't grow them in such punishing conditions, c. Walkeriana, and especially c. Nobilior grown in a climate similar to yours. They are both large showy fragrant cattleya.

[ArronOB]

Originally Posted by H.D

i really want HUGE plants with equally HUGE flowers lol. also i love fragrant flowers, and hence i am planning to get a cattleya.

If it’s really important to you to have huge flowers (and nothing wrong with that) then look at Catt pink empress (in the third row of the first site). I have two of these and they are perhaps the largest Catt flowers I’ve seen. The description on the site says 12-14cm but mine grow significantly larger then that - closer to 20cm side to side.

I also have Catt Siam pink - mine reliably flower at 15cm side to side.

Most of the really large flowering catts will be pink or violet. Some of the better whites will be just a bit smaller.

I can’t really comment on how well they will do in your conditions as they are nothing like what we experience. They are just hybrid catts of generalist requirements.