Anyone growing Cattleya indoors ?

[DenmanNJ]

I don't have a greenhouse and I don't live in Florida ....
but I am trying to grow Cattleya . I am predominantly a grower of Paphs/Phrags which are all in my large front SE facing window. I have now invested in Cattleya, which I have never grown before. I want to actually put them all outdoors for the Spring/Summer. What exposure should they have outdoors ?

[Subrosa]

I grow mostly Cattleya in PA. Once temps stay reliably above 50°F at night they start going out. Initially they go out into an area which catches very little direct sunlight where they stay for a week or so before I put them where they'll catch an hour or two. After a week of that they go out to a spot where they catch morning sun fron shortly after sunrise until about noon, where they spend the season. I do have a few which aren't as tolerant of cool temps but enjoy full sun here, such as C. aclandiae, dowiana, and trianae. They go out once temps remain reliably above 60°F with the rest of the Cattleya getting the morning sun for about a week, then get moves to a spot which gets sun from around 9am until 3pm.

[JScott]

Yes, you can successfully grow Catts indoors if you have the right conditions. You need a sunny window. They need at elast a few hours of direct sun a day, preferably in the morning, so an east window is good, but south or west will work well as well, but you may have to move them back from the window a little so the sun is not too hot on them and burn them. You can also grow them indoors under lights. I ran out of room at my good sunny window, so I have a rack that has flourescent lights mounted above the shelves, and the Catts do great. They are tolerant of a whide range of temperatures. The miniature or compact ones are best for windowsill culture, because the larg standard sized ones can just get too big to properly accommodate at a window, but yes, you can grow some fine Catts indoors, but they definitely do best if you put them outside in the summer. I live in DFW Texas, and mine have been outisde for a couple week in a location where they get the early moring sun, and then dappled light through the branches of a tree the rest of the day.

[SouthPark]

Denman .... I don't have a greenhouse too. I grow most of my orchids under a balcony in tropical conditions. Some sunlight - direct sunlight does shine on many of the catts for 5 hours or more .... and reasonably bright most of the time in the growing area. Temperature range and air flow is good, as well as humidity.

[JScott]

Oh, and I would also like to add when I think the appropriate time is to move them outside. I put mine outside when the night temperatures are usually in the 60s. An occasional dip into the upper 50s won't hurt the plants if the days are sufficiently warm, but when nights are almost always in the 60s, that's when I put mine outside.

[Nexogen]

I grow all my orchids (predominantly cattleya) in the house and to create conditions I bought terrariums, lights, humidifiers and fans.

[Fairorchids]

In NJ, out by late May, and back inside 1st week of October.
In extreme northwest of the state, make it June through Sept.
By the shore, you can probably go mid May thru mid Oct.

My greenhouse is near Flemington, and cool growing Laelia anceps go out now (April 20-25), and stay there till first frost is forecast (has been as late as Nov 20th one year).

[thefish1337]

They can be grown in a windowsill but each windowsill is different and can take some time to find the best spots to grow in. Depending on where you are latitude wise light through that window may vary with the angle of the sun and daylength which further complicates things. in my south facing windows there is about 2 small spots that are sufficient to grow and flower cattleya well. i cant depend on it so most of my collection is under lights and a few plants are lucky enough to get window spots. I recommend buying a decent grow light if you plan to grow them indoors, they are easy to grow under lights and will reward you if you can get the light dialed in.

[DenmanNJ]

Originally Posted by thefish1337

They can be grown in a windowsill but each windowsill is different and can take some time to find the best spots to grow in. Depending on where you are latitude wise light through that window may vary with the angle of the sun and daylength which further complicates things. in my south facing windows there is about 2 small spots that are sufficient to grow and flower cattleya well. i cant depend on it so most of my collection is under lights and a few plants are lucky enough to get window spots. I recommend buying a decent grow light if you plan to grow them indoors, they are easy to grow under lights and will reward you if you can get the light dialed in.

I have multiple grow lights - most of my Paphs and Phrags are under them currently. The cattleya will be spending the late Spring and Summer outdoors, so they will have sufficient light in the Morning. They're going to have to be acclimated to light slowly. I'm hoping I see some good growth over the next four-months.

[Clawhammer]

I grow 100% inside. I have probably 100 catts and I grow under LED lighting. I could never grow here in the PNW on a windowsill bc we don't get enough sun during the winter. Even if I had a greenhouse I would need supplemental light.

That being said, catts love LED lighting and I have no problem blooming mine. LED's put off very little heat compared to the amount of light and burn isn't really a risk with catts, so you can really give them the light they want and need without risking burn.