Blc. golden chieftain 'akikii' culture requirements?

[Jeff214]

Hello,

I found a Blc. golden chieftain 'akikii' on a clearance rack. The tag mentions that it should get low to medium light. Is that right? I keep reading that catts (and hybrids) tend to prefer high light.

Thanks.

[dounoharm]

oh boy! I love a bargain, and THAT is a beautiful mini-catt! I used to have one and I hated getting rid of it!

you are right, cattleyas require more light....the large standard cattleyas are light hogs, almost full light. the mini-cats are easier and more manageable for home culture.

I would recommend a southern window if you can, with a very sheer curtain to break the sun a bit...that's the best, but, if you don't have that, then get as close as you can to it....congrats!! post bloom pics soon as you get one!

(don't forget, cattleyas need big chunky media, and a dry out between waterings....pot sitting on a gravel plate..)

[Jeff214]

thanks, dounoharm.

Ill leave it near my southern window. It came potted in sphag moss so I just repotted in chunky media.

It's my first catt related purchase. All this talk about needing high sun light to bloom was keeping me away. The half off tag finally convinced me to get one. Sadly all the spikes are blasted... and it'll be a while until the new growths mature.

I'm glad it's one that I should be looking forward for!

[Optimist]

Cattleyas are my favorite orchids. They need about 25%-35% shading or so. I just put them in the window in the winter, and in summer (good weather) in a shade house with shade cloth. Like any other orchid they will burn if they are in "full light." I think the off-putting thing about catts is their size. I have a Myrmecophila-cattleya cross and it is huge. Other terrific Cattleya "types" to look out for are iwanagara, and brassovolas!

[estación seca]

I have a seedling-size mericlone of this one. It's very vigorous and grows easily. It makes multiple leads all the time. When it was in a pot I followed fertilizing suggestions on the Sunset Valley Orchids Web site and use 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of MSU fertilizer at almost every watering. (2.5ml of fertilizer powder in 3.78 liters) Now it's in semi-hydroponics and I use a quarter of that level of fertilizer as per Ray's Barkalow's suggestions for S/H growing.

[Jeff214]

well you guys are orchid enablers... I just went on a craze and bought a bunch of new catt hybrids. my wallet cries!

[pipsxlch]

Lol did you get it at a Lowes? I just bought a blooming Lc. Pure Soul to gift a friend for Christmas; I was going to leave the care tag with it after I repotted, but thankfully looked at the info first. Saw the 'low light' and 'half cup of water once a week' (okay there is a little sense to that one) and immediately tossed it in the trash where it belongs. I'll just write down care info for her.

[Jeff214]

I did buy the clearance catt at Lowe's - I tend to find healthy plants that finished flowering at 50% off.

Yeah, the care tags don't seem to make sense when I compare them to culture notes on orchid specialty stores. My cynicism tells me that they purposefully plant them in pots with no drainage and give us false direction so that we'd kill them. And of course, pay them more for new plants.

[estación seca]

My guess is a wholesaler buys them from the producer. Wholesaler is lazy and uses text from standard house plant tags, knowing almost everybody who buys a house plant views it as a decorative feature requiring next to no care that will be thrown out when it starts looking ratty. After all, nobody can keep house plants alive, right?

[Optimist]

Darn our Lowes here. No orchids other than a small group of dying phals.