cattleya intermedia in bloom... - Orchid Board

BettyE · #1 07-19-2012, 07:00 PM

Here is my cattleya intermedia in bloom. It was given to me by a friend over twenty-five yrs. ago. It blooms three or four times a year...looks like porcelain, and has a light sweet fragrance. Blooms on every new growth.....BettyE.

james mickelso · #2 07-19-2012, 08:03 PM

Beautiful. I like the intermedias. I have some that are close to blooming again. They throw up new growth all season long. I had alba hoyt bloom but a critter damaged the flowers. Yours is beautiful for sure.

BettyE · #3 07-19-2012, 09:46 PM

Thanks, James. What color are yours? Are they fragrant? BettyE.

james mickelso · #4 07-19-2012, 10:29 PM

A light pastel blue and they are fragrant during the day.

WhiteRabbit · #5 07-20-2012, 01:06 AM

Beautiful! I have an intermediate which should be bloom size, but hasn't - how much light does yours get?

james mickelso · #6 07-20-2012, 01:26 AM

Mine gets lots of light. Maybe you can gauge it here....My hand in this pic is about the light level as it is for real. My GH roof is corrogated plastic with a light spray of black paint. Not much paint. My intermedias get nearly full sun through this. But mind you I'm at the beach. Also I feed 20-20-20 when they are growing and then switch to bloom booster when they get their second leaf pushing up. Here is a pic of about when I start to feed them a bloom booster. This is what they look like when in bloom.

BettyE · #7 07-20-2012, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit

Beautiful! I have an intermediate which should be bloom size, but hasn't - how much light does yours get?

Mine gets very high light, also, Sonya. All intermedia need very high light in order to bloom. ( from what I've read & been told ) I use Peters 10-30-20 when the new growths are close to maturity. BettyE.

WhiteRabbit · #8 07-20-2012, 04:28 PM

thanks

mine gets direct light in the afternoon for a few hours I think

Wynn Dee13 · #9 07-20-2012, 05:48 PM

Betty and James, both your plants are beautiful but I don't think they are pure Cattleya intermedia. They look like they could have something like C. skinneri in them because of the tubular lip. They also have a higher flower count than C. intermedia. If they also bloom on every new growth multiple times a year I would think they are a C. intermedia hybrid. Here is a pic of a C. intermedia. It looks quite different than your plants. Cattleya intermedia - Google Search

james mickelso · #10 07-20-2012, 08:58 PM

But I keep looking and some of the intermedia I see on the net and in the orchid houses all look different and some look like mine. Some have the tubular lip and some don't. Mine came with the tag that said, cattleya intermedia from Santa Barbara Orchid Estates. Even the two I found seem the same as the ones I bought. When I look at the net I see lots of variations on the theme. Can't say what's what. Not too concerned about it. Never sell them. Just give them away if someone wants some. But I may be getting rid of the bulk of them soon. $1000 for the lot.