What is your experience in making Cattleyas bloom?

[StanTheMan]

Hello, everyone. I am new to Cattleya growing (a little over a year now) and I grow them in home conditions. The plants I have are decent-sized and I know they might take over a year to adapt to a new environment (new place, new substrate, etc.). I was expecting blooms for the last growths I had, but that's how it rolls. Which is why, having new growths coming, I want to maximize my chances of a future blooming. What are your best tips in growing them?

What I do now: one of them receives direct sunlight from around 3 to 5 pm, the rest of the day it's phalaenopsis-like light. Another one receives filtered sunlight from around 11am up until 5 pm. I let them dry mostly (not completely because I had already a couple of dwarf growths for not watering enough) when they are growing. When they are resting I let them dry completely. I fertilized weakly with each watering (which has worked with other orchids) but now I added osmocote and just use plain water.

I saw someone saying how using the heater made their cattleyas all bloom after years of just growing, and a grower in my city told me the key is to have a plastic-like pannel filtering the light so that it creates a greenhouse effect (with the heat). Someone else on youtube said they don't bloom if they don't receive direct sunlight and have a temperature change between day and night.

What is your personal experience? I'm open to learning different perspectives.

Kind regards,

Stan

[estación seca]

Are your plants deep green, light green or yellowish?

[Roberta]

The one that only gets 2 hours of direct light and Phal light the rest of the time is certainly not getting enough light. The one getting indirect light is likely also not getting enough. Catts are, in general, relatively high-light plants. Filtered sun (like dappled light that filters through a tree) pretty much all day. The amount of heat needed varies with the parentage. But I have found that many can grow quite cool. (I grow most of mine outside in coastal southern California USA ... winter low temperatures can get to 2-3 deg C!) There are some that need to be warmer, especially those with significant amounts of C. dowiana in their ancestry. So knowing the names (or the parents of unnamed hybrids) will help to establish temperature needs. But I think, for a start, more light. Where in Mexico do you live? What are outdoor temperatures? Do you have space to grow outside?

[Toadwally]

Full morning sun, gradual if new, is a good start.

[isurus79]

Cattleya generally bloom with good growing conditions. There really isn't a trick that will make them bloom other than growing good, strong plants with adequate nutrients and light. I also think your Catts probably need more light to bloom. Are the plants old enough to bloom?

[Keysguy]

I also suspect they are not getting enough light.
Mine grow under 60% shadecloth so are NEVER exposed to direct sunlight. If they were directly exposed, like a tear or gap in the cloth, their leaves will burn in a matter of minutes.

I am in very close proximity to the ocean so the light here is much brighter than even 2-3 miles inland so the exposure inside my 60% is probably more equivalent to 50% "ish" elsewhere.

They also get watered pretty much daily by mother nature from June to October and then maybe very light waterings 1-2 times per week the rest of the year with weekly feedings.

[StanTheMan]

Thank you everyone for your answers. You might be right. I will take pictures of my plants and post them here describing the cross or their parents to make this more detailed.

Stan

[StanTheMan]

Hello. I'll post them all in separate messages to make it easier to follow.

Here is my BLC Chia Lin 'New City' x Cattleya lueddemanniana. Chia Lin has 49.19% of Cattleya dowiana and 1.56% of lueddemanniana, but this last number surely changes from the cross.

Since I recently removed the oldest bulb because it seemed sick and started to wilt, I picked up this plant and changed the substrate to a mix of medium bark with coarse pumice stone. It came as a 4 bulb division, under my care it grew 2 more that were smaller (the latest was bigger yes), but the first months I was watering sparsely cause I didn't want to risk rot like I did with another Catt (which would explain the small growths). Leaves are that slightly yellowish green, but both growths under my care weren't upstraight, which might be telling me they lacked light.

On the third picture you see the space where I keep this one along with my BC Fuchs Star and my Catt Pittiae.

[StanTheMan]

These are my BC Fuchs Star (Brassavola nodosa x Cattleya maxima). Last year I split the plant in two and ever since both have put out new growths. Same, I underwatered so the first growths naturally were much, much shorter. I have taken the gist to them now (most of the time they are firm and wrinkle-free), so maybe the growths that are about to start will be full-sized. The transparent pot is the pot where I'll be putting them in (separately), along with a more aerated mix.

[StanTheMan]

This is my Cattleya Bella (or LC Bella), which is Cattleya labiata x Laelia purpurata. The seller told me it would surely bloom from the next growth, with proper conditions given. The last growth it had is adult-sized, same as the one it grew with me, but mine (the last growth) came out thinner, although it did stand up straight. While this one was growing, it received direct sunlight in the morning til noon and then it was indirect light. Maybe that was enough-ish for it to grow straight?

Currently it is growing new roots and I am hopeful it'll bloom from the next growth (not developing yet).