Heeeeeeyyyyyy, I'm confused.

[diego_p]

So I've read a lot about how spring and summer are when cattleyas do their 'vegetative' growing and you get one or two (maybe more) new pseudo bulbs that possibly get ready to bloom and all that goodness right?

Well it's October, it's getting cold, and my Blc. Fringe Benefits has two of those little eye things growing. (I know you guys know what I mean )

so does this mean that my plant is still growing and I need to figure out how to keep it warm as it continues to mature its new pseudo bulbs?

[estación seca]

Yes.

[Tschimm]

Yes. Providing enough light might be a problem this time of year though. Depends where you life.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Most of my hybrid Cattleyas continue to grow October through April, including new leads/growths. They just grow more slowly than during the warmer months.

[cjm3fl]

I live in central Florida and I always see a bit of new growth at this time of year, when our temps cool below 90's for the highs.
Any drop in the "normal temp" seems to trigger it, for me.

I won't worry about keeping the 'new growth' any warmer than you plan the parent plant. If you keep the parent warm enough to survive your winter then the new growth should be fine, but slowed down, until you get warmer temps. again.

[Intruder]

Originally Posted by Tschimm

Yes. Providing enough light might be a problem this time of year though. Depends where you life.

It seems to me that a few Catts are impossible to grow in our countries without using extra light. I think Rhyncholaelia digbyana, the yellow Catts having Catt dowiana in there ancestry and the venezuelan Catts. Brazilian Catts are more easy.

[Optimist]

Many orchids come from tropical areas close to the equator where "winter" and "summer" are really all the same season except for a less rain. Often their temperature differences are caused by how high an elevation they grow at: By the sea, in the mountains (etc).
(quote from Wikipedia) Cattleya...
is a genus of 113 species of orchids from Costa Rica and the Lesser Antilles south to Argentina. (And of course, as mentioned, South America, Mexico).

Looking on a map...This is basically all the land masses that surround the Caribbean sea. So, yeah, they are high sun, warm growing and winter to them is not much below 60 degrees, somewhat dryer, and a somewhat shorter day.

I have found that it is very beneficial to look up where your orchid species originates and look at the average temperatures and conditions, also the terrain where they live and the altitude. That gives a good idea of what conditions they live at. To me, every orchid is a new research project, in which I get to know the world a little better (a real attraction to me).

[diego_p]

I live in south dakota. The nights are starting to get down to the 30s so I've already brought it into the house.

I got one of those smal,l simple, metal shelving unit that I'm going to use for all my orchids but this cattleya is the biggest one I got, so he may need his own special spot. (Maybe it'll be a start to getting some bigger cattleyas in the future ☺)

Anyway, I'm going to put some lights on them. You know when you grow plants under lights you're practically supposed to have the lights right on the plant? Well are the leaves the ONLY thing that photosynthesizes light for the plant? Because, say the pseudo bulbs do that too, then the distance between them and the light increases because of the height of the plant. Would that have an affect on anything? Would it be enough to just have light on the leaves?

[estación seca]

Growing orchids under lights is a huge topic. There's a forum on this board devoted entirely to this. On the Forums page, scroll down to the red horizontal bar STYLES, SETUPS & ENCLOSURES and you will see the forum Growing Under Lights.

[wintergirl]

My catts have new growths starting all the time on one plant or another. I do not change the temp of the plant, but I grow indoors.