Cattleya Advice

[denvervet]

I have a feeling that Cattleya Orchids would do well in my condo. I live in Denver and have a loft on the top floor with very large skylights and large windows. We get more sun here than southern California, its rarely cloudy or rains. My building is on a north westerly grid, mostly westerly. I was thinking that my westerly windows would be good for Cattleya? It would get a few hours of sun a day. Any thoughts?

[WhiteRabbit]

I grow some both in west facing windows that get mid-afternoon sun, and some outside that get afternoon light for a while (not sure exactly how long). I do know that the very high elevation in Denver makes for more intense sun ... I say give it a try with one or two non-pricey Catts.

I do have to watch for extremely hot temps. Being in the afternoon sun during extremely hot temps can cause burn.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by denvervet

I have a feeling that Cattleya Orchids would do well in my condo. I live in Denver and have a loft on the top floor with very large skylights and large windows. We get more sun here than southern California, its rarely cloudy or rains. My building is on a north westerly grid, mostly westerly. I was thinking that my westerly windows would be good for Cattleya? It would get a few hours of sun a day. Any thoughts?

Sounds good to me.

[silken]

Cattleyas do like quite high light. Keep an eye on them to start with. I got a new mature one from someone and put it my west facing window of the greenhouse and it had bad sunburn in a day. And yet my own that have been in the greenhouse all along are fine on the same window ledge. So they may need to adjust if they didn't have the same light before you bought them.

[Bud]

Denver has a dry atmosphere, you will need a humidity tray or invest on electric humidifier with an oscillating fan that comes with it....
Pilot(Ryan, who also lives near your area) did a wonderful job installing his makeshift humidifier.
You got sound advice from the other members, but you must follow the Baker's culture on Cattleyas as a guide.

[tucker85]

Like the others have said, give it a try. Since you're growing indoors, you may want to consider mini-catts or compact catts.. They don't require quite as much light and many of them can bloom more than once a year.