What are they? I need help

[luckygrower]

I have had these for a couple of years now and they just started to bloom,they were given ti me with no information, I have been lucky enough to keep them alive long enough to see flowers but they don't look healthy. The purple one is really that purple and it has two new growths but the existing sudobulbs don't look so good. The little green one is slightly fragrent, please excuse any spelling issues.

[cneos]

Photos one and two (same plant?) are of a bifoliate (2-leaved) cattleya hybrid. These flower only on new growth, so its good that you have new pseudobulbs coming along. The old p-bulbs will eventually dessicate and should be removed.

Photo 3 looks like an encyclia - encyclia is also in the cattleya group.

Check out the culture sheets for Cattleya that are posted elsewhere in OB.

[luckygrower]

Cneos,
When you say dessicate do you mean rott or just dried up as they look like they are starting to shrivel (dry up) now.When do I remove them and does this mean I have to divide the plant? I have a new p-bulb at each end.

[cneos]

dessicate means to dry up. while can divide the plant to remove the dessicated tissue (and roots), you can also remove by cutting the dessicated pseudobulb out with a sterile instrument.

[dave b]

I personally wouldnt remove anything from the Cattleya unless it was diseased. This plant has been a bit too dry (possibly to root loss??), and has taken a while to re-establish. It looks like 5 old growths with 2 new ones. Thats a good thing. The old growths (back bulbs) can be left for a while. The pseudobulbs are energy storage devices, and supply nourishment to the rest of the plant. If you cut them, the plant will sulk, and not progress as it now is. Just let it grow. In due time, you will see an old growth back bulb getting really dessicated and turning yellow. Thats when ill remove one. The bigger you allow any orchid to get, the better the overall health, and blooms.

[gixrj18]

The ones on the left are definitely something in the Cattleya family, the one on the right could possibly be Encyclia mariae. If not, I think it may be somewhere in it's parentage. Striking resemblance, except yours has rounder petals. Maybe a cross between that an Enc. tampensis?

[luckygrower]

Thank you all for all your information,with it I hope I can get the purple one to flower again with much better looking flowers,this will help with finding care instuctions, thanks again. Mike

[cupcake]

WOW! Wonderful purple blooms!

[orchidexpress]

I agree with grower gixrj18. Cattleyas on the left...but it's hard to tell with the plant on the right as it's so cut up. The flowers look like an encyclia.

Give it some Dyna-Gro Grow and watch them GROW!

[Sandy4453]

Whatever you do, please do not remove anything from this cattleya. The ps.bulbs that have produced flowers, will never again produce flowers BUT serve as a huge source of energy for all new growth. If you cut those off, you can kiss your plant goodbye. Each ps.bulb will grow "eyes" from which new growth will emerge. The back bulbs will probably not grow anything but you need them there now for the energy it stores and provides for all new growth. Later on (and much later, a couple of years) is when you'll remove them. While growing, the older bulbs do shrivel....it's doing what it does best now and that's producing new growth! Division is something you may consider down the road when you've got at a minimum 3 ps.bulbs per division and the less you have per division, the longer it will take to grow. It may even skip a blooming season. Remember, the more you leave on, the more will grow and the faster they'll grow.

Also, cattleyas roots tend to rot and it's a good idea, after flowering to check things out by removing it from the pot and removing all those dead, rotted roots. Some people wait until they see new roots growing first before removing the plant and others do it immediately after flowering. In Asia, growers remove ALL roots after flowering and have the plant establish all new growth. I have done this as well. I have one huge cattleya that I discovered was completely root rotted after flowering. I purchased it from a nursery in bud and assume it was in this condition when I purchased it but nevertheless, it was completely rotted. I had no choice but to remove everything. I then potted it in fresh media, kept it dry for several weeks and out of any sun. Within 2 weeks when new roots were growing is when I began watering and placed it back in the sun. The plant is basically shriveled but it's producing all new bulbs now which is what I want, which is what you want from your plant. Just make sure to remove all dead roots and leave the rest alone!!!