Laelia tenebrosa v. aurea 'Richard Santos' x self in bloom

[silken]

Originally Posted by GardenTheater

Love the color combination and veining! Thanks for mentioning your use of moss and charcoal and clay pots. It helps to learn what can work.

Thanks! I don't usually use moss for my Cattleyas. But it seems to be fine and maybe that's because the clay pot can breathe.

[Bud]

What a delightful flower....with such vibrant festive colors....even with just a single flower, it still made our day bright and beautiful

[Bayard]

The form is impressive for an aurea!

[flexdc]

What a lovely plant. My Laelia tenebrosa also recently bloomed. I bought it in March and came with sheaths and took forever for them to develop. It never put out a growth the whole summer, I wonder when they put out growth?
Thanks
Andrew

[POLKA]

They seem to be similar to Purps (Laelia Purpurata) in that they bloom, grow, then rest a long time, then bloom, grow.....etc

rex

[Eddie Oates]

That is a well grown beautiful flower.
Ed

[silken]

Thanks for looking everyone Francisco Mirando always says what he is aiming for in his breeding and I believe it was for good form in this aurea. I like it because I like the more full petaled ones

Originally Posted by flexdc

What a lovely plant. My Laelia tenebrosa also recently bloomed. I bought it in March and came with sheaths and took forever for them to develop. It never put out a growth the whole summer, I wonder when they put out growth?
Thanks
Andrew

I checked my journal in OrchidWiz on this one. In May of this year this pseudobulb that has bloomed was only several inches tall and putting out roots so I re-potted it at that time. By July or Aug the sheath was present and in early Sept. I could see a bud in it. It grew fast and luckily I cut the top off the green sheath as the bud had a slightly bent stem and emerged in a day or two. The stem straightened fine after that. So based on this last growth, I expect it will rest most of the the winter before developing the next one. Then in early spring it will develop and proceed to blooming within a few months (I hope).

[flexdc]

Silken, thanks for that info. I will let mine rest in this winter. How cool do you let the night time temps drop to?
I am planning on growing outside. Some nights can get down to 50F or 10c here.

Andrew

[silken]

I grow mine in a heated greenhouse here on the prairies. In winter the temps are 65F in the day and 55F at night. OrchidWiz recommends a slightly warmer winter rest, but mine survived last winter just fine. I make sure not to over water it in winter.