Encyclia citrina

[flexdc]

Grown outside year round, mounted on cork.
Very easy grower but dislike wet conditions. It gets water every other day and less in the winter.

Wonderful citrus fragrance.

Enjoy
Andrew

[Bud]

Beautiful color...it didnt open fully yet when you took the picture...but the fragrance is a plus

[flexdc]

This plant's flowers never fully open for me. It will stay like this until the bloom is done.

[WhiteRabbit]

Beautiful!

[gnathaniel]

Very nice, Andrew! Yours looks similar to the clone I have, flowers on mine don't open much more than that either. I've been told there may actually be 3 distinct species/subspecies/varieties within this taxon. This is one of my absolute favorite orchid fragrances, I never get tired of it.

I find that mine (also mounted on cork) likes a surprisingly large amount of water, I try to water every day this time of year and about 1-3x/week during the cooler months. I used to grow it drier but it grows more roots and bigger pseudobulbs with higher moisture levels. Hopefully I'll have blooms to share soon too...

--Nat

[LavendarSunset]

Very pretty - and I can just imagine it's wonderful scent!

[flexdc]

@Nat thanks for the tip. I will grow.it a bit wetter this season and see if it flowers more.
I have only seen this plant mounted. May be because it rots easily? Could also be because the flowers hang upside-down.
Andrew

[isurus79]

That is one species I would love to grow. How big is the plant itself?

[flexdc]

I can never manage to grow this plant very big. It is mounted on a 4" x 6" plague.

[gnathaniel]

The plant's pendant habit would definitely be harder to accommodate in a pot. I've started growing more things in tilted wooden baskets and if I get another plant of this I'll try it that way, it's a good middle ground between mounting and potting and some things from similar climate (mex laelias) are loving it.

Interestingly, in their culture sheet for this species the Bakers mention a FCC-awarded specimen plant that was grown for 3 years potted in medium bark, perlite, and sand without a pronounced dry rest in winter, so it may actually be pretty amenable to potted culture. If there really are multiple as-yet unpublished taxa within citrina, there may also be some variance in cultural needs and tolerances among them...

Steve, the biggest growth on mine so far has a pseudobulb about 1.75-2" long with leaves about 10" long, but since the plant is mounted and pendant it takes up very little space. It has a reputation for being difficult but it's never given me any trouble and I'm honestly a pretty low-skill orchid grower.

--Nat