Cattleya (Laelia) crispa sheath question

[DirtyCoconuts]

Party time!!!

One cool thing about the sheathes is that they are designed to keep things OUT and away from the bud. Not to keep the buds in. The inside is almost tapered if you look at the edge once it opens. There is less resistance once it started pushing because it is pushing the sheath apart and open as opposed to just smashing into the closed end and forcing it open

[Jeff214]

you're absolutely right, DirtyCoconuts. It's designed quite beautifully!

I was concerned since labiate cattleya sheaths are thick as a mail envelope while these were... cardboard like haha. I guess the mechanism still holds.


...and 24 hours since it poked out.

[SouthPark]

DC made a great comment too - about the sheath features. They've developed or evolved in a way where the folds at the top split relatively easily if pushed or cleaved from within. So when the buds expand and push up on that upper portion from the inside ------ it just splits open.

The mechanical features of the sheath just turns out like that --- evolved. A remarkable design by 'nature'. Minimal effort needed to bust out from the inside.

[Jeff214]

...and 36 hours post poking.

and of course now I'm concerned that there's too many lodged inside.

[Roberta]

It's going to be a great show!!

[Jeff214]

4 days since it poked out of the sheath. Man these things grow fast!

[terryros]

There are expert Cattleya growers who have written that they identify particular Cattleyas with thick, particularly double sheaths that need to be cut across above the buds so that the bloom spike and buds can emerge unhindered. I have a healthy Cattleya labiata with very thick double sheath and the buds cannot fully make it out of the sheath unaided. If the sheath has been opened, you don’t want to water the sheath and get water down in the buds.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by Jeff214

4 days since it poked out of the sheath. Man these things grow fast!

Definitely Jeff. When it comes to flower spikes for some catts ------ the spikes and bud growth could definitely be comparable to some bamboo hahaha.

I once had a catt with a sheath only. Then took a holiday for 10 days, and flowers started to open on the night I got home haha. Sure - bulbs can grow relatively slowly - but spikes - can be a different story.

[Roberta]

Doesn't look to me like these buds are having any trouble getting out, so leaving the sheath intact gives the emerging spikes support. One would not want to have the spikes lean over and break of their own weight. These are doing just fine on their own - and the spike will have a chance to build up its strength before the buds open and make it really heavy.

I suspect that Catts that are heavily line bred could develop the need for human assistance (just like with domesticated animals). Because L. crispa doesn't have a lot of the characteristics that breeders fancy (not flat and round and broad-petaled) it's probably closer to the species as it evolved in nature... and therefore has less problem developing naturally than some that have had more human intervention.

[Jeff214]

SouthPark,

It's quite a heroic effort! This L. crispa had been dormant for at least 6 months and suddenly, explodes. I see that many people's L. crispa blooms around Aug each year - I guess the blooms may be influenced by sunlight durations?

Roberta,

Would you still not stake these? It's starting to bend forward a little and it's concerning.

A. Chadwick's article on L. crispa mentioned that they were quite popular during the 1800s. I wonder if they were mostly jungle collected and not line bred during the earlier orchid days. Shame that people don't consider L. crispa "desirable" today.