Laelia harpophylla

[Mahon]

CJ,

That's right, I forgot! It was in the same Richardiana article...

Dungsia, not Hoffmannseggella!

-Pat

[LauraN]

Thanks CJ and Pat, I sincerely appreciate your responses. Seems like it was the problem with the heat...
the plant was not burnt at all from the higher light, just a little redder leaves.
You've both given me a lot to consider.
Laura

[Orchidflowerchild]

Originally Posted by Mahon

CJ,

That's right, I forgot! It was in the same Richardiana article...

Dungsia, not Hoffmannseggella!

-Pat

Pat,

No worries! Of course, the space in my brain would probably be better used to store information about the nerve tracks from the association cortex to the distal limb muscles, for my biopsychology test tomorrow, but instead I fill my head with information from Richardiana.

Que sere. It comes in handy, here.

-Cj

[gmdiaz]

Hiya Lauren,

I recently added this one to my collection too. mine has QUITE red leaves. . .much redder than yours look in the photos. . .and lots of new growth. It's blooming sized but no sign of any blooms.

I am growing in lower light conditions, maybe 1800 fc at the tops of the leaves and lower temps 65-85. Lots of water, as needed. Really good air circulation and humidity around 50-60%

Hope when mine does bloom, it looks half so well as yours!!! I love these with their bright orange blooms against the red and green! Really striking.

I think you did great!

[Oldguypops]

That's one of the most beautiful 'failures' I've ever seen!

[Rosim_in_BR]

Hi, Laura! Just my two cents...Cj is right, this is an epiphyte orchid that is commonly taken as rupicolous because of the general aspect of the plant and flowers. It is native to the State of Espirito Santo in Brazil, where there are no high mountains, an area considered of transition between the southeast temperature conditions (intermediate, cool in some areas) and the northeast (hot) temp conditions. So, light definitively is not the problem, but temperature could be, if excessive as Cj mentioned earlier in the thread.
Purplish color on the undersides of the leaves is common. On the other hand, I can see some blackish spots on the leaves. I cannot be sure from the photo (I'd suggest you a close examination) but this could be due to fungal disease and I believe that, in that case, if the plant is already adult, this could be the main problem with the low number of flowers.

[daddydoall]

Is C aurantiaca (Mishima spots) related?
I have that cross with harphophylla (SVO) and its blooms/habit look more like the latter. It is blooming well with no supplemental heat (low of 40), high airflow, and did not seem to mind temps to 100 in the summer. They do resent wet leaves.

[brsucculents]

Related in that they are both in the Cattleya alliance. C. aurantiaca is from central America (harpophylla is from Brazil) and is now in the genus Guarianthe.
This is an old post. I wonder if LauraN could give us an update on the original plant.

[isurus79]

I don't think LauraN posts here anymore.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Originally Posted by daddydoall

Is C aurantiaca (Mishima spots) related?
I have that cross with harphophylla (SVO) and its blooms/habit look more like the latter. It is blooming well with no supplemental heat (low of 40), high airflow, and did not seem to mind temps to 100 in the summer. They do resent wet leaves.

Do you mean you have the cross of these 2 plants? Because I do as well. Got it from SVO and it is blooming for the second time.