Cattleya dowiana - finally found one

[piping plover]

Originally Posted by My Green Pets

I will chime in with a very interesting post on another forum, this guy imported one of these plants and has found dowiana to be a very strong grower. My dowiana seedlings are quite vigorous.

Cattleya dowiana update | Slippertalk Orchid Forum

Thank you for that perspective. And hopefully, like yours, mine also will be vigorous!

Also I really enjoyed reading that post that you linked above. Fascinating. Love learning about this stuff especially adjusting the care and watering being mindful of what the dry and wet seasons would be in their native environment.

[K-Sci]

Originally Posted by My Green Pets

... My dowiana seedlings are quite vigorous

This is my experience as well. My dowiana seedlings grew through the winter, albeit very slowly. The winter night temperature in my greenhouse is 65F (18.33C). This is not far below the 20C minimum mentioned in the Slippertalk forum.

The advice to minimize winter watering well into the new season would at first seem to make no sense. Plants don't usually become stronger and flower better by increasing water stress. But there is at least one plausible explanation.

As part of the natural growth pattern, old bulbs and roots eventually die and get consumed by saprophytic microbes. It is not normal for microbes that grow in living tissue to participate in this process. When the rest period is ended while it is still too cold, the wet dying roots are attacked by disease microbes that can grow into and kill other healthy tissues such as other roots (and the rhizome). When the flowering season comes around, the extended and short rest plants may look the same but the short rest plant is smaller and its ability to take in water and nutrients is reduced.

Getting back to the topic of seedlings, healthy seedlings don't have dying back-bulbs with dying roots to get infected. Since they only have strong healthy disease resistant roots and the winter rest is not as critical and they can be grown through the winter.

-Keith

[piping plover]

[QUOTE=K-Sci;987280]This is my experience as well. My dowiana seedlings grew through the winter, albeit very slowly. The winter night temperature in my greenhouse is 65F (18.33C). This is not far below the 20C minimum mentioned in the Slippertalk forum.

The advice to minimize winter watering well into the new season would at first seem to make no sense. Plants don't usually become stronger and flower better by increasing water stress. But there is at least one plausible explanation.

This is the mistake I’ve been making late winter/early spring, not waiting until growths are larger and temps higher. Some of my hybrids have dowiana in them and I notice that if I water in winter, large healthy leaves develop a yellow glow around where they meet the pseudobulb top, then yellow progresses or leaf drops off. These are big healthy leaves. I get too sympathetic because by February, I’m barely watering and the pseudobulbs are so shriveled.

Thank you for posting. Sounds like good explanation to me.

[estación seca]

Evolution is driven by reproductive success. A great many plants from areas with long dry spells have evolved to flower during the dry spell so the seeds are ready to sprout when rain finally comes. This gives new seedlings the longest growing period possible before the first dry spell. They typically have some water storage somewhere in plant tissue.

Examples of such plants include most desert cacti, many thorn forest trees such as Adansonia, Ceiba, Colvillea and Delonix and many winter-growing genera in the Amaryllis family such as Amaryllis, Boophone, Haemanthus and Strumaria.

[Fuerte Rav]

as a total aside, and sorry for going off topic, I'd like to say a quick, big thanks to ES! I planted a tree a couple of years ago and promptly forgot it's name - ES listed it here, Colvillea - yay!

[estación seca]

Colvillea racemosa is one of the most beautiful flowering trees I've ever seen. I think it's even better than Delonix regia, which is also native to Madagascar. Do you have a D. regia?

[Fuerte Rav]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Colvillea racemosa is one of the most beautiful flowering trees I've ever seen. I think it's even better than Delonix regia, which is also native to Madagascar. Do you have a D. regia?

Nope

but now I've heard of it I'll keep my eyes open - I've just put the name in the notes on my phone

Thank you

[piping plover]

Originally Posted by Fuerte Rav

as a total aside, and sorry for going off topic, I'd like to say a quick, big thanks to ES! I planted a tree a couple of years ago and promptly forgot it's name - ES listed it here, Colvillea - yay!

ES knows his plants - that’s for sure, and very helpful!😁

---------- Post added at 10:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:30 PM ----------

Originally Posted by estación seca

Colvillea racemosa is one of the most beautiful flowering trees I've ever seen. I think it's even better than Delonix regia, which is also native to Madagascar. Do you have a D. regia?

Colvillea - I had to look that up. What an amazing tree. So beautiful, if If I came across that photo online I might have thought it was fake.

[estación seca]

Colvillea seeds are very easy to sprout if fresh. Soak for a day or so and plant. Delonix, not always. File one end past the dark seed coat and soak for a day, then plant. Both are hot growing plants so sprout them outside during hot weather, or use a heat mat indoors. Seed is not hard to find online. Both will flower in 15 gallon / 55 liter pots if you have room to bring in for the winter.

Sorry for the thread hijack!

[piping plover]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Colvillea seeds are very easy to sprout if fresh. Soak for a day or so and plant. Delonix, not always. File one end past the dark seed coat and soak for a day, then plant. Both are hot growing plants so sprout them outside during hot weather, or use a heat mat indoors. Seed is not hard to find online. Both will flower in 15 gallon / 55 liter pots if you have room to bring in for the winter.

Sorry for the thread hijack!

No worries ES, always room for good horticultural info!

Good knowing these can flower in large pots. Unfortunately, I don’t have that space now indoors but am looking for a property where I can build a greenhouse.