Some advice needed with Catasetinaes and dormancy period
Hey Catasetinaes experts :-)
So these were impulse buys from an orchid show last year. In the picture, the plastic pots are FDK after dark black pearl and the other one is cycnoches warscewiczii x catasetum tenebrosum.
The FDKs were tiny seedlings. The original seedlings bulbs were discarded. As you can see the progression is good and they are quite larger then last summer. I've provided a heavy watering and feeding regimen which seems to have paid off based on the size they've reached. I see some activity at the nodes. Swelling and pushing outwards. I'm suspecting they might be able to push out spikes this year?
All 3 pots started under my lights setup but as they matured they were too large to fit and are now in my windowsill (I needed the space anyway it was out of the question to keep them there in the first place). They aren't getting much light as it's pretty cloudy lately but do get occasional direct sun from noon to 4. The largest FDK shows signs that it wants to soon drop it's leaves.. the smaller ones not at all. The other one in the blue pot isn't showing signs that it wants to drop it's leaves either. That one is getting quite fat.
So, here are my few questions:
Is that swelling sign of a spike coming?
I've already reduced watering and cut down the fertilizer. Is this ok even for the ones that aren't showing yellow leaves?
I remember reading to stop watering completely by January regardless of the plants condition, is that accurate?
Any tips to get them to bloom, if they have reached a mature state?
In the windowsill they currently get daytime temps of 20-24C and night from 15-18C. Humidity is quite high, around 60-70%. Light is failry low, around 1000 to 1500FC with occasional 4000-5000FC from 1pm to 4pm on sunny days.
I'm also wondering about what to do with them next spring/summer. My shelves are full, they won't be going back there. I'll have windowsills to start them in the spring but these things get too large to stay there... Can I grow these outdoors in the summer time in my region? I remember reading that anything under 18C will send them on dormancy... We get occasional night time drops to 10-12C some summer days... Days are normally nice and warm, rarely anything below 20C from June to September, but nights can be quite cool at times.
Thanks
Emmanuel
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