Fred Clarke is a huge gift to the Orchid community -OR- I finally got my black orchid

[isurus79]

Whoa, not sure how I missed this post! That's an amazing bloom! Congrats!

[Roberta]

DC ... if the name was mentioned I can't find it. But Mo.Painted Desert x Ctsm. Alexa = Fdk. Desert Bordeaux (Fred only registered it last year)

[DirtyCoconuts]

Thank you, Steve and way cool, Roberta. That’s a great name too!

This baby has officially come out of dormancy and was just moved to her spring quarters where she will be soaked in rain and the morning to about noonday sun.

Here’s to a good year for catesetum!!

[JScott]

I know mine is a different plant, but it is of similar lineage (FDK After Dark 'Black Pearl'), but I've had it for years. It just finished blooming for me for the fourth time since I bought it, but it never grows more than one new growth per year. It's a big plant with lots of bulbs, it seems like it should have multiple leads by now, but no, just one new growth each year. Is that typical for this type of plant? I don't think it is, because I've seen pictures of big plants blooming from multiple pseudobulbs. Is there something I can do to encourage more leads, or do I just need to wait longer, or is one all I can ever expect?

Back to the topic, your plant is just fantastic. Congratulations.

[Roberta]

I know that Fred Clarke suggests lots of fertilizer during the growth phase (now and into the summer) . Last year was the first time that I tried adding time-release fertilizer to the regimen... I did it because I was going to be traveling for a couple of weeks during the critical period so would not be able to do my usual fertilizing. I got better growth, and more blooming, from my Catasetinae than I have ever had before. That, and lots of light - just short of toasting. The heavy fertilizing during the period of active growth makes sense... these things are growing so fast that you can almost watch it. Growing more like a tomato plant than an orchid.