Cattleya Sheath question

[judith_arquette]

Could someone explain to me what exactly a "sheath" is? Thank you.

[katrina]

A sheath is the protective covering for the bud(s). It also provides structural support of the developing flowers.

[judith_arquette]

Originally Posted by katrina

A sheath is the protective covering for the bud(s). It also provides structural support of the developing flowers.

Thanks! I've read on here that sometimes they're "empty" this just means there are no developing flowers inside? Is there a general reason this happens? I've read that catts need sufficient light to bloom, can inadequate light be a factor or is it usually occurring in immature plants?

[katrina]

Sometimes a young plant or a plant that is recovering from illness or stress simply doesn't have enough energy (yet) to produce flowers. It's actually very common w/young seedlings.

And then you have some orchids that produce their sheaths long before they flower. Some of those sheaths will stay green and soft for months before the flowers begin to swell. Also...w/some orchids the sheaths will dry up and go brown but later on those dried up sheath will produce flowers.

As a general rule...I only remove sheaths that have produced flowers.

EDIT - yes, if the plant doesn't get enough light then it can also produce empty sheaths. More often than not though, if the plant isn't getting enough light then it won't even produce a sheath. At least that's been my experience.

[judith_arquette]

Thanks so much for all the info!

[tucker85]

I agree with everything that Katrina said. Some cattleyas will develop sheaths on most of their pseudo-bulbs but will only bloom on the very last pseudo-bulb of the season. In that case any pseudo-bulb that isn't on the end of the lead won't bloom even if it has a sheath. If you're lucky, you'll get one of the cattleyas that blooms on every new pseudo-bulb whether it's on the end or not. Those are the cattleyas that can put on a very nice show. Basically sheaths don't mean much of anything except to indicate that the plant is mature enough to bloom. Even when cattleyas are extremely well grown there's no guarantee that every pseudo-bulb that has a sheath will bloom.

[silken]

Since I bought a lot of my cattleyas as seedlings, I have found once they are close to mature, many put out a sheath, but don't bloom. What I have really been noticing lately with some of these seedlings, is how the latest growth is so much larger than any of the previous ones. And that, for me seems to be the gauge of when it is finally ready to bloom.