Blc. Kesthin's Ester ' Sophie '

[cattmad]

A nice full round shape exhibition cattleya. Cattmad.

[Zoi2]

It's beautiful.
Joann

[DebsC]

This one is gorgeous!

[SP2340]

Very nice, thank you

[Bolero]

How do you get such round shapes? Do you do anything special or they just grow like that?

[cattmad]

Originally Posted by Bolero

How do you get such round shapes? Do you do anything special or they just grow like that?

Hi Bolero,a lot of my plants come from local nurseries, not that I buy too much these days. I am very particular with parentage when I purchase hybrids as this will effectively be the difference between ordinary orchids and show bench plants. Over the years an orchid had to meet one of two criteria to stay in my collection ie. it must be good enough to win on the show bench or there must be something unique or different about it. If it didn't meet this criteria I sold it, so over the years I built up only good quality orchids. There is really nothing to be done to enhance the roundness of orchids, the way they flower is what you get. Thanks for your interest. Cattmad.

[Zozzl]

That is beautiful! Was it a mericlone? Are you buying them in bloom to ensure good quality flowers or as seedlings? Sorry for all the questions but after many years of growing I am interested in doing the same thing that you have done as far as improving the quality of my collection.

[cattmad]

Originally Posted by Zozzl

That is beautiful! Was it a mericlone? Are you buying them in bloom to ensure good quality flowers or as seedlings? Sorry for all the questions but after many years of growing I am interested in doing the same thing that you have done as far as improving the quality of my collection.

Hi Zozzl, thank you for your query. Would you kindly refer to todays thread Blc. Burdekin Jewel ' Sebastion ' as some of your questions are answered in that reply. I preferred to grow them on ( not these days, I getting too old )from 2'' or 3'' pots and then get the joy or disappointment when they flower. In the latter years I almost gave up buying mericlones as the quality in my opinion was inadequate. I concentrated on parentage of hybrids and as a result I have been rewarded with plants ( in my view ) better than most mericlones available from nurseries. Hope this and the other thread helps. Cattmad.

[Bolero]

Originally Posted by cattmad

Hi Bolero,a lot of my plants come from local nurseries, not that I buy too much these days. I am very particular with parentage when I purchase hybrids as this will effectively be the difference between ordinary orchids and show bench plants. Over the years an orchid had to meet one of two criteria to stay in my collection ie. it must be good enough to win on the show bench or there must be something unique or different about it. If it didn't meet this criteria I sold it, so over the years I built up only good quality orchids. There is really nothing to be done to enhance the roundness of orchids, the way they flower is what you get. Thanks for your interest. Cattmad.

You have really selected well. I agree that it does take time to get a good collection going and I have a few really nice ones. Not that they win much, there is one couple that always seem to have superior plants to me. I will keep buying seedlings until I start winning!

[Zozzl]

Thanks for the info Cattmad! I have looked around and found a supplier with a small hybridization program but I like what they are doing and hope to have some nice plants blooming in the near future. Sooooo...tired of mericlones!