Lc. Supersonic "Striking Lip" BM/JOGA - Orchid Board

mjHuntingtonBeach · #1 03-04-2013, 12:41 AM

Purchased from Kawamoto Orchids in September 2011. A cross of Lc. Little Oliver x L. purpurata. Due to the purpurata part of the cross, I have been growing it outdoors here in So. California. It blooms in mid winter and I had my first, less than impressive bloom last winter. Now blooming again, although I had to bring it indoors before the buds opened to avoid rot, to which several of the cattleya family orchids I have growing outdoors seem to be prone to if they bloom during our cold rainy winter season. All the pictures I have seen of this cross all show a deep red lip with some yellow and pink sepals and petals. For me, they seem to grow more lavendar and almost bluish. But definitely a keeper

james mickelso · #2 03-04-2013, 01:21 AM

Very nice flowers. Love the colors. Is it fragrant? Great culture shown here as well. The rotting flower buds come from too much water in the plant as it developes the flower blooms and it then gets cold condensing the moisture within the flower bud between the sepal/petal and the outer flower sheaths. I now cut my sheaths off about when the flower buds start to develope within the sheaths. Don't have anymore problems. My Greenwich Elmhurst was very prone to this problem and when I started cutting off the sheaths I haven't lost a bud since. I used to have a huge purple/yellow/red BLC that lost every other flower bud. Wish I had known the cause then. Yours is beautiful.

mjHuntingtonBeach · #3 03-04-2013, 02:13 AM

It has a very mild fragrance, and strangely I notice it more at night than during the day. Most laelia/cattleya hybrids that I have seem to be more fragrant during the day. But the fragrance is not very pronounced, so I wouldn't call it a major feature of this orchid.

And yes, I have started peeling apart the sheaths and on new growths in winter I find I also have to peel away the outer sheath around new growths as they mature to avoid the whole new growth rotting away.

mjHuntingtonBeach · #4 03-04-2013, 02:22 AM

Definitely looked redder and pinker in this photo, but I love how it turned out regardless.

james mickelso · #5 03-04-2013, 03:08 AM

Looks awsome. Love the color combo. Are you going to the Santa Barbara show this weekend? I'll be there on sunday.

terracotta7 · #6 03-04-2013, 08:41 AM

I love it just the way it is!!! That is a fantastic orchid!!!
Thanks for sharing the pics and the info!

tucker85 · #7 03-04-2013, 10:23 AM

Beautiful! You've got a good flower count. If the plant develops more leads you could get a really impressive display in couple years. Cold, wet weather is really tough on cattleyas. Cold weather fungus is difficult to treat. Many growers don't like chemicals but I've started spraying my cattleyas with Thiomyl once a month. It's a systemic fungicide and it seems to give good protection.

silken · #8 03-04-2013, 11:46 AM

Wow, very gorgeous and lots of blooms as well!

WhiteRabbit · #9 03-04-2013, 08:01 PM

Fabulous!

mjHuntingtonBeach · #10 03-04-2013, 09:27 PM

Yes, James, I was planning on going, but probably on Saturday. I like to swing by Santa Barbara Orchid Estate and see what is on the $7.50 tables but by Sunday I imagine those tables are picked pretty clean. Heck, they are picked pretty bare by Saturday but I was planning on going there before the show in hopes of finding something interesting