2022 SVO Cattleya Drop

[Eli Vizsla]

My SVO plant I got back in February is now in bud. Feels like it’s taking forever.

[Clawhammer]

Got my shipment, and this pains me to type, but I have issues. SVO is my favorite grower and that remains the case, but disappointed in what I received for the first time. Let me know your thoughts because I am kind of questioning my judgement.

I hesitate to reach out because I got a free plant (Pot Princess Tamoko). However, I had asked for a violacea to be added, Fred confirmed, and then this showed up instead. I have limited space so haven't made a final decision on if I'll keep the free plant.

I received 5 plants. The Aussie Den is perfect and the freebee is too.
[IMG]Untitled by Eric, on Flickr[/IMG]

(V. coerulescens x Holc. subulifolium) -- Gotta say, this is an ugly plant. The leaves are all bent in various directions. Think I'll mount it upside down. The thing I am concerned about are these spots. thoughts?
[IMG]Untitled by Eric, on Flickr[/IMG]

The 4inch C. Something Else f. coerulea has weird pitting on every leaf (except new growth). Seems like it maybe got cold at some point in the past? Thoughts?
[IMG]Untitled by Eric, on Flickr[/IMG]

In addition, the C. schilleriana f. coerulea was very small. I have received at least 25 catts and 40 cattleya from SVO and I was disappointed in the maturity.

[Roberta]

The spots on the V x Holcoglossum don't look good, but seem to be limited to that one leaf, so likely cold water or some such. If it spreads to other leaves, then definitely holler. Holcoglossums tend to grow downward and Vandas upward, so the unruly growth is likely to to be the result of the cross being just plain confused. Primaries tend to "split the difference" between the parents and in this case the plant is sort of saying "Huh?". Will be interesting to see what the flowers end up like. Would be neat to get some background of the thinking behind the cross. Fred doesn't make random hybrids, so he must have some sort of goal in mind.

On the Catt with the pitting, as long as the new growth looks clean, would not worry about the older ones. Keep an eye on it.

Mature C. schillerianas are pretty small, so may not be as immature as it looks.

[Clawhammer]

Thanks for the sanity check Roberta

The spots are on the 3 bottommost leaves for the vandoglossum.

That is what I was thinking on the pitting. Its a surprise SVO would ship something in this condition (never has before), one of the pits is a hole and every old leaf is effected. Definitely didn't happen in transit. Solidly not pleased with this one.

I have a blooming sized schilleriana. This one has 4 small single leafed growths. Most immature cattleya I have received from SVO.

I wanted that violacea too. It was available when he confirmed the add. Would have preferred to pay for it over a free potinara.

[Roberta]

I think it is worth saying something... Fred is very responsive, and if somebody else is doing less than his customers expect (he's not likely the one pulling plants and putting together packages) I would think he'd want to know

[Jeff214]

The schilleriana seedlings I've gotten (elsewhere) have been smaller than most other cattleya seedlings. I think it looks within reason. (I'm still waiting for my order from SVO...)

If you were really disappointed about the violacea, I'd email Fred back. He's very helpful/reasonable via email and in person!

[Clawhammer]

Fred responded immediately and with the professionalism and class we would all expect. He told me to remind him of this experience on my next order and he would make up for it (I told him I didn't want compensation so I took that remedy off the table based on my wonderful previous experience).

Schilleriana - he confirmed this batch is small. I repotted and all roots below soil level we rotted and it is actually two tiny plants.

4" Something Else - Fred was disappointed this left his nursery.

Vandaglossum - common cosmetic issue with holcoglossums, no risk to newer leaves

violacea - apologized but said options were limited. I am disappointed that there wasn't any communication. I anthropomorphize my plants so now I'm stuck with a non fragrant super-hybrid when I collect species and fragrant primary hybrids. Don't think anything will change based on feedback so don't rely on email to add plants to an order if the plant is in demand.

It is clear that business is brisk and there may be some slight growing pains. I have confidence based on my experience and Fred's response that this is just an exception and that he took my feedback seriously.

[estación seca]

I've learned over the years many SVO species offerings sell out extremely rapidly. There's no second chance.

[thefish1337]

Originally Posted by Clawhammer

Got my shipment, and this pains me to type, but I have issues. SVO is my favorite grower and that remains the case, but disappointed in what I received for the first time. Let me know your thoughts because I am kind of questioning my judgement.

I hesitate to reach out because I got a free plant (Pot Princess Tamoko). However, I had asked for a violacea to be added, Fred confirmed, and then this showed up instead. I have limited space so haven't made a final decision on if I'll keep the free plant.

I received 5 plants. The Aussie Den is perfect and the freebee is too.
[IMG]Untitled by Eric, on Flickr[/IMG]

(V. coerulescens x Holc. subulifolium) -- Gotta say, this is an ugly plant. The leaves are all bent in various directions. Think I'll mount it upside down. The thing I am concerned about are these spots. thoughts?
[IMG]Untitled by Eric, on Flickr[/IMG]

The 4inch C. Something Else f. coerulea has weird pitting on every leaf (except new growth). Seems like it maybe got cold at some point in the past? Thoughts?
[IMG]Untitled by Eric, on Flickr[/IMG]

In addition, the C. schilleriana f. coerulea was very small. I have received at least 25 catts and 40 cattleya from SVO and I was disappointed in the maturity.

This batch of C. schilleriana coerulea don't seem to be strong growers which is rare for Fred to release. I bought 4 last year and they are all exceedingly slow growers, a few instantly lost their roots.

I picked up the semi-alba violacea last year and I noticed this year's release is treated to induce polyploidy. Probably one of the strongest growing species I own and it actually appears to be a polyploid already despite it not being listed. Those are good plants, that sucks you missed out.

[Jeff214]

I checked out the C. schilleriana coerulea at the SVO open house today and it was all about the same size as yours. Got mine now!