The Long Awaited "Nun's Orchids"

[gixrj18]

Ctsm. integerrimum has poked it's hood up a little more, here's some mature bloom pics. And to answer the scent question, they both smell like black licorice.

[Sandy4453]

Originally Posted by gixrj18

Once a week, with blossom booster, KLN, and molasses. You are correct!
:

No Jasen, YOU are correct! These flowers are amazing, you're doing these perfectly. Are you growing in or outdoors? Molasses? Would you mind telling me about this. I never heard of using it for these or any orchids? I'm very interested. I think I'm going to try what you've been doing with these once I get what I should be using and temp/light. for winter.

Hope you don't mind my asking.

[gixrj18]

Originally Posted by Sandy4453

No Jasen, YOU are correct! These flowers are amazing, you're doing these perfectly. Are you growing in or outdoors? Molasses? Would you mind telling me about this. I never heard of using it for these or any orchids? I'm very interested. I think I'm going to try what you've been doing with these once I get what I should be using and temp/light. for winter.

Hope you don't mind my asking.

They are grown in a shadehouse. Molasses has many advantages.

[Sandy4453]

Thanks for the explanation in your PM Jasen. Going to get some molasses!

[nancy]

Oooh, Jasen - beauties! Now, how can anyone look at these, and think that cattleyas (shudder!) are more interesting?
Just to muddle the waters, I grow mine outside, full sun, mix is half fresh horse manure, 1/4 gravel, 1/4 bark. I really thoroughly disagree with the (urban legend) that sun gives female flowers! I have gotten female flowers only twice: once from a fragile, sickly plant at death's door (theory: last gasping try for immortality) and once from a massively overgrown plant (theory: fat, healthy, safe, no predators, no insects, "let's just sit back on our stored energy and reproduce!"). I think the growing, 'hungry' plants make male flowers; and from what I've read, female flowers are rare in many of the species.
Catasetums are definitely not just another flower - they look wild, the perfumes are often bizarre; best of all, that plant that is 3' tall and 2' wide now will store away for the winter in a 6" x 8" space. And if the leaves get chewed, bruised, torn, etc., you get all new ones next year - no downside.
Good growing Jasen - I am envious!
Regards - Nancy

[nancy]

p.s. Fertilizing: when I joined the AOS (the first time) they sent me the book Your First Orchid which said something to the effect of people growing may deciduous species (like catasetum) fertilize them weekly with 3-4X the recommended amount, i.e. a tablespoon/quart rather than a teaspoon...not sure I want to jump into that, but it is in print, and came from the AOS, so it MUST be true.
Gullibly - Nancy

[kavanaru]

wow! that much fertilizing!?? I just received catasetum pileatum var. Imperiale and Catasetum pileatum var. Imperiale X vinaceum, which were coming from Italy, and for my taste a bit late in the season... I will give them a push with very high nutrients (maybe not as much as 4X) and see...

[nancy]

Hi Ramon -
Last I heard, imperiale was now considered its own species, rather than a var. of pileatum (that was last week, it could be different now!). A beautiful flower.
Getting plants this late in the summer, if they have roots and foliage, they will want fertilizer...but if they are dormant, you'll probably want to wait until next year.
I went to look for the AOS book, haven't located (might have been passed along), but I hopefully will find and will directly quote it. Still, 4X? Daring! Though I did put some 'Dynamite' in my baskets, and also fertilize regularly, but not with superstrong! Though I think the horse poop has some good nutrients.
Cheers - Nancy

[kavanaru]

he-he, that's something I have also read not long ago, but somehow I am still reticent to accept that change. I know Catasetum pileatum from the region where I grew up in Venezuela, and although most plants are white or white/cream with little red spots (from very few to many many of them), you can find plants in the same place, which have more red than others and in some cases are completelly red (I have to admit I have never found these completely red plants in the wild, but this is the very same region where Dr. Pierre Couret found his famous Imperiale Pierre Couret, and many other, including a wonderful yolk-yellow especimen, which I think died before he could propagate - a pitty, as those flowers were just amazing!). Both forms are too similar to each other, blooming at the same time, having exactly the same form and the same pollinators, and are sympatric (live exactly in the same place)... So far I can remember from my evolution and species ecology lectures, all this is against all rules of speciation (there are some exceptions, of course)... Therefore, I do not feel confortable with that change.

As per my new plants, they are actively growing, and the PBs are still smaller than the old ones, having several growths each... that's why I said they are a bit late in the season... by this time my other Catasetinae have already "mature" PBs.

here is a picture of them:

[golden]

gixrj18, congratulations on your great catasetums. I have a few hybrides from Italy and a few hybrides from JEM orchids .
My Cyc.cooperi flowered twice this summer,both times with female flowers. I have read that the female flowers of cyc.cooperi are bigger in size but less in number compared to the male flowers.


The flowers were greenish at the begining and gradualy turned brownish.