Cattleya dowiana help request

[isurus79]

I just noticed my large dowiana has a bud(s) forming in the sheath!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is one of those plants that I will be ECSTATIC if it booms! Sorry for getting so worked up. I'm pretty stoked though!

[jcaesar]

Your dowianas are still young...look nice & healthy. To bloom them well, up the light and make sure that you're not feeding them as much as the Vandas that you grow them with. Get lots of growth, but not much flowers. Good Luck with them!

[ToddsterVonCattMan]

My large dowiana used to bloom in August, which was nice to have a Catt blooming in summer; however the blooms were always short lived (like less than two weeks), but very fragrant...

Growing many of the species Catts takes great patience in my experience...! When it comes to easy and reliable blooming with Catts, I'll take the likes of Lc. Irene Finney or Lc. Drumbeat any day of the week...!

[Oscarman]

Your plants look great Steve. I wish I could get mine to that size. I must think more like a dowina and less like a human. This species is a challenge, to be overcome.

Maybe yours just need more light? Ha, ha, like I'm an expert....dowiana killer maybe!

Originally Posted by smweaver

Maybe the plants are too young, but I don't think that they really qualify as seedlings. That being said, however, I've never seen any other plants of dowiana first hand, so perhaps mine are too young to bloom. I'm posting a picture of each one of them, which I took earlier this afternoon. The tape measure at the bottom of each picture should give you an idea of their size. They're healthy plants, and each one's got an extensive root system. I think they're just being obstinate because they somehow realize that I've been anxiously awaiting some flowers.

[smweaver]

Steve, congratulations on your dowiana having a bud... Grrrr...

Dave, I'm sure hoping that they don't need more light than what they're already getting. Those two plants are sitting between Vanda tricolor var. suavis and Aerides odorata, both of which are in bud (meaning that if they require more light than the light-demanding vandaceous species that I grow, I might as well throw in the proverbial towel and swap them for something easier to bloom--like Euanthe sanderiana! ).

Steve