Cattleya amethystoglossa palha 'Gloriosa' x 'Palhinha'

[isurus79]

This is a great first bloom between two pale varieties of this species. I got this one from Olompali Orchids in California.

Cattleya amethystoglossa palha 'Gloriosa' x 'Palhinha' by Isurus79, on Flickr

Cattleya amethystoglossa palha 'Gloriosa' x 'Palhinha' by Isurus79, on Flickr

Cattleya amethystoglossa palha 'Gloriosa' x 'Palhinha' by Isurus79, on Flickr

[Dillon123]

Shmawzow!!!! What a beautiful plant!!!

[silken]

Very nice! I haven't seen a pale one like that.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Nice one, it's stunning.

[isurus79]

Thanks! I'm pretty happy with this one!

[WhiteRabbit]

Holy smokes! Gorgeous!

[Picotee]

Gorgeous. Spotted bifolate catts make my day!

[smweaver]

Wonderful blooms, Steve. One of my favorite cattleya species. Your humidity's a bit on the low side in that part of Texas for much of the year, isn't it? How do you cope with that (especially if you grow your orchids outdoors)? Just curious.

[isurus79]

Steve, our humidity constantly fluctuates between very low (~20%) to very high (100%), depending on the air mass du jour. I do nothing to buffer temps or humidity, so if a plant can't take low humidity or 100 degree days for weeks on end, it dies and isn't replaced! I think this species (along with aclandiae, which grows in the same habitat) is one of the toughest Catt species and is fairly easy to grow if you let it dry out between waterings.

[smweaver]

I agree that it's definitely a tough customer as far as cattleyas go. I have several amethystoglossas and (much to my surprise) they're able to tolerate much cooler winter temperatures than their original habitat might lead you to believe (being dormant at this time of year probably helps). Perhaps aclandiae would also be as tolerant. Interesting that your plants are able to handle approximately 20% humidity at certain times of the year. Maybe I shouldn't panic when it drops to around the 50% mark on the coldest days of the winter. Congrats on your blooms. They're very nice.