It is really easier to answer your questions this way:
Here are the 100 degree stats for Wichita, Ks.:
100 Degree Temperature Stats for Wichita Kansas
And for Camp Mabry , Austin:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/Image/ewx/wx...degdayinfo.pdf
Note that many of the parents of the fancy corsage cattleyas are from the northern Andes- just high enough to make the day temperatures comfortable for humans. Cattleya violacea, on the other hand, is a definite lowlander from the Amazon Rainforest, and therefore likes it hot. While it rarely makes it to 100 degrees in its natural habitat, The temperature is often close to 90. This is one of my favorite pages for C. v. culture:
Warm-Growing Cattleya Culture
and, after you look at this website, check out the climate of Manaus:
Manaus - Wikipedia
I grow my 'Muse' in a 4" pot filled half-full with medium grade fir bark topped by sphagnum moss that nearly fills the rest of the pot, and water when the moss is dry. Fertilizer is weakly, weekly-when I remember.
In summer. it is outdoors on a porch that gets shade, but bright reflected light from the white porch walls, and some direct sunlight in late afternoon. In winter, it nearly touches the tubes of a fixture that consists of two, two tube fluorescent 48" shoplights.
C. violacea var. semi-alba flamea
Linear Mode
