Catasetum pileatum 'Pierre Couret' x Red Pena

[jcec1]

First catasetum bloom of the year - it has been warm and sunny here so I think this contributed to it producing female blooms - I think I prefer them anyway

[camille1585]

Nice one! I love female blooms just for being so weird, they look like little green aliens.

[isurus79]

Very cool!

[Leafmite]

Very nice!

[jcec1]

The female blooms only lasted about a week, which is quite short. However, it immediately produced a second spike, this time I kept it in deep shade and got a nice reward - male flowers. Ten huge blooms on the spike.

[Roberta]

Once the spike starts, its gender is decided and conditions aren't going to change it. (Correlation does not equal causation...) This is actually pretty normal Catasetum behavior, from my own limited experience. That spikes of different genders appear at different times may be the plant's attempt to not self-pollinate. But I have also had spikes where I got both kinds of flowers together. Fred Clarke (Sunset Valley Orchids) says that he has not found a reliable way to encourage one gender versus the other, and he's one of the top breeders in the world for this group of orchids. If he can't control or predict gender selection on Catasetinae, nobody can... Just enjoy what you get. That's a beauty.

[fishmom]

Beautiful blooms, and such lush leaves! That is a well-grown plant.

[Roberta]

Just a note... there is no registered Ctsm. Red Pena ... wonder if it should be Penang (red)? (Ctsm Penang can be yellow or red so this might be a description). The appearance of the flower indicates that this is possible. Anyhow it is gorgeous.

[jcec1]

Originally Posted by Roberta

Just a note... there is no registered Ctsm. Red Pena ... wonder if it should be Penang (red)? (Ctsm Penang can be yellow or red so this might be a description). The appearance of the flower indicates that this is possible. Anyhow it is gorgeous.

I forgot the quote marks around Red Pena so it should read Catasetum pileatum 'Pierre Couret' x 'Red Pena' - or something along those lines - not sure how two cultivars that are crossed are written.

---------- Post added at 07:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:30 PM ----------

Originally Posted by fishmom

Beautiful blooms, and such lush leaves! That is a well-grown plant.

My plants live indoors all year - it's too cool and damp - so they don't really get insect damage or wind torn - they would curl up and die if they got exposed to outside conditions here

[Roberta]

Ah, the quotes are important. So this is pure Ctsm. pileatum, with two "named" parents. I use parentheses for the cultivars ('Pierre Couret' x 'Red Pena') just for clarity, but is is fine to leave the parentheses off as long as the quotes are used.