Understanding Cattleya Species growing habit

[KC Kam]

Hi All,

I have a cattleya nobilior which ive bought last year and has bloomed for me once early this year. Up till now it has been growing 4th pseudobulb but no flowers yet. I have been growing orchids less than 2 years and i always thought cattleya usually grow pseudobulb then flower, new pseudobulb then flower. But species sometimes skip flowering and continue to grow pseudobulbs.

I was wondering why they dont flower every pseudobulb but only flower like once or twice a year? Is it because it is seasonal which they want to lure certain pollinators at certain period therefore other times they will focus on pseudobulbs instead of flowering?

Any idea?

Thanks.

[isurus79]

This species grows in a habitat that is very dry for much of the year. It only flowers when conditions are perfect. Flowering in the wild is not guaranteed because blooming during a bad year could kill the plant.

[estación seca]

Your weather for most of the year is like this plant's summer.

It grows where summer is hot and humid, with a lot of rain. Nights are warm and humid. The trees have leaves, so many plants are in bright shade during the summer. Then it has a long, dry, but warm to hot winter. The trees drop their leaves and the plants get more light. Winter nights can be cool but not cold.

I don't know whether this plant requires a dry winter rest if conditions remain like summer all year. Does anybody know how people near sea level in Hawaii grow them?

[isurus79]

I used to live down the road from H&R so I'm pretty familiar with their winters. They don't get below 55 degrees and get plenty of rain, but with at least a few days to a few weeks between rain events.

Francisco Miranda told us they get so little rain during the cooler months that butterflys are attracted to the water they see in your eyes because they're thirsty. However, there is fog almost every night, so its not totally dry.

I've gone for 6 months without watering with full sun in a south window with very high temps and they grow/bloom quite well. However, I'm going to mist more this winter per Francisco's tips and see if I get less shriveling.

This plant is VERY tough and needs to be treated like a cactus.

[estación seca]

...This plant is VERY tough and needs to be treated like a cactus.

Ummm.... There are cacti and there are cacti.

I have been to Cattleya nobilior habitat but didn't realize it. I was looking at cacti. I was there in June 2008, winter, corresponding to December in the Northern Hemisphere. It was hot during the day, 85-90 F / 29-33C, with low humidity. The land is covered with mostly winter-deciduous forest, and a few evergreen trees.

The cacti and other succulents growing in C. nobilior habitat require large amounts of summer water to thrive. The guides told me the area is very wet and humid during the summer. They said summer daytime temperatures exceed 120 F / 49C in the shade. I triple-checked this figure with the guides because it seemed so unbelievable. It is so wet not a lot of people go there because it's hard to get around. Vehicles would get stuck in the mud. C. nobilior gets almost daily summer rain, but as an epiphyte or lithophyte, the roots have a lot of air.

Brazilian succulents are very different from North American succulents, many of which can happily survive months of summer weather with little to no rain. Brazilian succulents cannot tolerate a long, dry summer! Most hobbyists who fail with Brazilian succulents don't water them enough in the summer, and don't give the cacti enough sun.

The question is whether Cattleya nobilior requires a dry winter to grow well, or only it tolerates it. If they grow and flower at H&R as well as they do in habitat, that suggests to me a long winter dry spell is not necessary, but is tolerated. Or do H&R protect them from winter rain?

The original poster wondered about growing it in Malaysia. I don't know how much it rains there in winter, or whether winter is cooler than summer. I would think that, if the climate in Malaysia is similar to the wet side of the Big Island of Hawaii, C. nobilior should do well there outdoors under a winter-deciduous tree.

[KC Kam]

Hi Estacion,

Ya..Malaysia only has dry or raining season. Do they really have winter rest? If yes does that mean they grow 1-2 pseudobulb yearly?

Hi Isurus,

I have to water it everyday in Malaysia, sometimes twice during hot season otherwise it will shrivel quite quickly. By the way, I saw your photos on nobilior..is nice

[estación seca]

In Brazil they have a long dry winter. But I don't know whether this is necessary for them to grow well, or something they endure because they have no choice.

[Nexogen]

An orchid grower named John Marcotte says:
"If you give it a dry rest, it blooms from leafless growths. If you water year round, it blooms from leafed growths."

This, in the walkeriana case, I don't know if it happens to the nobilior.

[katrina]

I water my walkeriana year round and it blooms from leafless growths. And this has been the same for years. I water less in winter but I do water.

I did have a walkeriana that bloomed from both leafed and leafless growths. That one rotted in the black plague of summer '16. IME, some just do this but it has nothing to do with watering.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by estación seca

The question is whether Cattleya nobilior requires a dry winter to grow well, or only it tolerates it.

They won't bloom without a pretty dry winter.

Originally Posted by estación seca

Or do H&R protect them from winter rain?

I'm not sure. I believe their parent stock is mounted so rain a few times per week in Hawaii probably wouldn't do much to promote rot or prevent flowering since they'll dry quickly.

Originally Posted by estación seca

The original poster wondered about growing it in Malaysia.

I bet Cattleya nobilior grows very well in Malaysia! They should probably be protected from constant winter rain, however. Mounted plants would probably do best.

Originally Posted by estación seca

I would think that, if the climate in Malaysia is similar to the wet side of the Big Island of Hawaii, C. nobilior should do well there outdoors under a winter-deciduous tree.

I'm not sure if Malaysia and the Big Island climates are comparable. However, H&R is on Oahu, not the Big Island!