so i have a whole lot of questions and ideas about my orchids,was going to put this in the beginner discussion and list all my ramblings about all my different orchids but maybe its better to seperate the issues though their all kind of similar.first off is my latest baby my catt and the one that scares me the most as it cost me a lot of money.hopefully i will get it to flower like the pic one day for me.
01.i know its like asking how long is a piece of string,but when can i expect the plant to fower?the guy i bought it from pointed to a "bulge" on one of the stems and said i could expect a bud soon,turned out be a new leaf so either he didnt know what he was talking about or he lied to me.i dont know how they propogated it but a guy from my orchid society said he bought a flask(cant remember what variety) back in the 80s and it only recently started flowering.so thats a bit scary.
02.posted another thread about whether to repot it or not yet,still havent decided.will come back to that later
03.its summer here(aka the growing season) and how to go about making the most of it?i had it inside in the best possible position i could find east facing big window only problem not much air circulation,at work all day and house is empty and open windows interfere with the alarm system.so moved it outside to the verandah where its getting less sun,more air circulation and is drying faster.i soaked it for 10 minutes on saturday pot felt weighty,monday a lot less weighty.let it get some of the rain we had here last night and then put it back to dry off.i know that catts prefer the drier side of moist so iv been adopting the "its dry now but wait a day then water " approach and so far so good.back to the making the most of the growing season before i have to bring them inside,i have my 1 cymbidium outside getting full sun till midday,its doing very well(i have another 4 not doing so well but thats for the cymbidium thread coming later)its potted in rockwool which i didnt like at first but have come to see the merits of it and im keen to try it on the other orchids when the time arrives.i was wondering if the catt could be placed in the same position?these warm sunny days arent going to last forever would like to make the most of them.
03.with reguards to fertilizing,i'v always been an organic fan but with the orchids i'v been going the chemical route,can i incorporate organic fertilizer into the regimine?i had an idea of of alternating different types of feeding ie if i water 3 times a week:
1 day chemical
2 day organic (i'v started collecting worm tea)
3 day pure h20
thing is if i move the catt to the same position as the cym getting full sun will 3 waterings a week suffice?how long can it actually stay dry before it starts taking strain?
well these are some of my cattleya issues,wishing i had bought a starter one first.im sure there are some things i missed will probably come to me as soon as i press submit.hope i didnt ramble to long.
What is the name of the Catt in question? Some of the big Catts can take several years before they are BS - compact ones maybe not as long. How big is you Catt now?
It's not possible to tell you when your cattleya will bloom. In the picture, I don't see any signs that it has bloomed in the past, so it's probably not blooming size yet. It's possible that you may need to wait another year for blooms. Once it blooms, you'll know the season it blooms in. Most of mine bloom in the fall and winter but I have a few spring and summer bloomers also. they usually bloom at about the same time each year. Being a cattleya grower is an exercise in patience.
Catts like to get very dry between waterings. They can stay dry for weeks without any harm to the plant if there's enough humidity in the air. Since it's summer time for you now, I would think watering twice a week would be plenty, but you need to judge for yourself.
If you're going to fertilize each time you water, then use a very weak fertilizer solution. It's fine to alternate between organic and inorganic fertilizer. In fact it's a good idea to alternate so you make sure the plants getting all the nutrients it needs. Most growers give orchids a weak fertilizer, once a week. If you're going to fertilize at every watering, make sure to flush the mix with pure water, once a month, to keep fertilizer salts from building up.
Good luck with your new plant.
thanks,i dont mind waiting just so long as its not 20 years.i'm happy focusing on just keeping it happy and growing for now,the flower will hopefully eventually come.we're inland and there's not much humidity here,what would a drying out catteya look like(stupid question i know)but would like to know the signs before they become unsightly.
A sign that the plant is needing water should be the newer pseudo bulbs shrivelling and the leaves turning leathery and dry. Don't wait that long to water! Just use a bamboo kebab skewer and insert it deep into the pot. Leave it in the same place so you don't stab numerous roots. Check it periodically to see if the tip is wet or dry. That will tell you how dry the media is in the centre and bottom of the pot where it takes the longest to dry.
I prefer not to leave my orchids sitting in ornamental cache pots except when the orchid is in bloom and I have put it somewhere to enjoy. I feel air gets to the roots better if not surrounded by an ornamental pot.
thanks,i dont mind waiting just so long as its not 20 years.i'm happy focusing on just keeping it happy and growing for now,the flower will hopefully eventually come.we're inland and there's not much humidity here,what would a drying out catteya look like(stupid question i know)but would like to know the signs before they become unsightly.
As cattleyas get dry, the pseudo-bulbs wrinkle as the plant uses up the stored water in the pseudo-bulb. The best way to judge the hydration is to look at the lead pseudo-bulb (the newest one). The lead pseudo-bulb should be plump and not wrinkled. If the lead pseudo-bulb begins to wrinkle, it's not a big deal, just water a little more often. Don't worry if you see wrinkling on the older pseudo-bulbs at the rear of the plant. That often happens and no amount of watering will rehydrate the older p-bulbs.
Even though cattleyas can go for weeks without water, that's certainly not the ideal situation. Cattleyas need plenty of water when they're growing. With cattleyas, it's a balance between drying and watering, known as the wet/dry cycle. If a cattleya is mounted on a piece of wood, with no media at all, it could be watered almost every day because it dries out within hours of watering. I grow my cattleyas in wood baskets with very little media and I water them every two days during the growing season, but my cattleyas are completely dry within 4 or 5 hours of watering. So with a pot, the trick is to be able to determine when the media is completely dry, leave it that way for maybe a day, and then water it very well, so water is running out of the pot. If don't get it quite right, it's better to be too dry, than too wet. Good luck.
i'm in jhb and i'v joined the local society but we only meet once a month.at the moment i"m watering by soaking the plant for a few minutes then letting it drain.i bought the clay pot for it for when i was brave enough to repot(not there yet) now its more for support so it does'nt get blown over.
my cattleya ramblings
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