Cattleya walkeriana (standard pink-flowered form)

[smweaver]

Finally got this guy to bloom (although kind of pathetic to only get one flower). After failing for years to get flowers from this plant, and after reading Harry Akagi's (Catwalker's) comments about this species needing uninterrupted darkness at night during the fall, I decided to try an experiment. Every night for the last four months I've been covering the plant with a large box after sunset in order to block any light from getting to it. I'm not sure if that was all that was needed to get it to bloom, but it produced a viable spike this year, so I'm counting that as a small victory (and thank you, Harry, for the encouragement in the numerous posts you've contributed on this species). The scent is fantastic too.

Steve