Lc. Loog/Long Tone 'African Beauty' parentage? Fragrance?

[ramonypony]

Not sure which section this should go in. I'm wanting to find out what parent(s) of this hybrid give it it's incredible scent. I've only smelled it once and I'm dying to smell it again. Bought one in bloom and it kicked the bucket, now I have another that is about to kick the bucket. I don't know what it is with these, they don't seem hardy, I can't get them to grow. Maybe virused?

I'm not very interested in hybrids anymore and would like to know what species parent(s) down the line give it its fragrance, if that's even how it works. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can help me. Thanks!

[silken]

Ctt. Loog Tone is a very complex hybrid. So its hard to say what is all contributing to fragrance. I've attached a page from OrchidWiz with a wheel and the family tree also.

Hybrids are usually easier to grow than species. This should do well under general Cattleya culture with quite bright light and warm temps. This one tends more to warm growing than cool as per OrchidWiz.

Do you grow other Catts? What kind of conditions did it have? This is one I have always thought I would like. I think it is hardy as all the photos in OW seem to have lush multiple leaves on the plants shown.

Show us some pics and give us some info as to your culture and maybe you can pull your 2nd one back to life with some tips from here.

[ramonypony]

Thanks for that silken. I guess I will just have to buy all those species to try to find the scent. I wish I could bloom it!- really beautiful waxy red and smells like heaven. Yes, I do have other catts and they all do well for me. I sometimes notice sulking after repotting for some but it never lasts long, this hybrid seems to sulk forever until it dies. My newest one came with a developing growth and after I repgotted the growth started to die from the top down- I had never seen that before. That growth has since shriveled completely and I can't get the darn thing to start roots or growths at all. It is just wasting away. I think I read somewhere that this hybrid is often virused if it comes from Asia- I don't know. My conditions right now are indoors under lights, humidity around 70%. All my other catts are either growing roots or bulbs or buds right now.

[silken]

My Catts don't usually sulk when I re-pot because I wait until new roots are just starting. Is Loog Tone a bifoliate or unifoliate one? If it has two leaves per growth, these are known to be sulkers after re-pot if not done at the right time. They can sulk until they die. For them it is very important to only re-pot when new root growth has just begun.

Do you use seaweed to help roots get going? I find Catts respond very well to it and you might try that on your problem ones. I also let the Catts dry out right thru before watering again. They are in an open chunky medium bark but others use different open chunky mixes. They really like to get air to the roots.

[ramonypony]

It is bifoliate. I've heard that they tend to sulk when repotted but my other bifoliates haven't given me trouble like this. Maybe I did repot at the wrong time, I did it because I could tell that the roots were rotting in the mix it came in. But what makes me wonder if something is really wrong with it is that the new growth rotted away soon after repotting and I know I didn't get any water in it. I have seaweed but I haven't tried it on this one. It is in a very open mix of bark and styrofoam.

[silken]

Originally Posted by ramonypony

It is bifoliate. I've heard that they tend to sulk when repotted but my other bifoliates haven't given me trouble like this. Maybe I did repot at the wrong time, I did it because I could tell that the roots were rotting in the mix it came in. But what makes me wonder if something is really wrong with it is that the new growth rotted away soon after repotting and I know I didn't get any water in it. I have seaweed but I haven't tried it on this one. It is in a very open mix of bark and styrofoam.

It could be virused but these problems you mention are also symptoms of other causes. New growths turning black can indicate a calcium deficiency. Some of my Catts were doing that until I began adding a Cal/Mag supplement. They also weren't blooming and that or something has improved that issue as well.

Some bifoliates are also more sensitive to when they are re-potted than others. The Baker's culture sheets on orchid species mention on certain bi-foliates that if not re-potted at the correct time, they will languish and die. Of course if it is in terrible potting media and will die because of it, you do need to attempt to re-pot. Since you have seaweed, if you are still trying to save this one, I would definitely use it.

[ramonypony]

Well, my second one is still alive (for now), it looks awful and wrinkled but I think I see a tiny new growth starting. I think it might be able to recover but I guess it will take a long time for it to be strong enough to bloom.

I went ahead and bought a replacement (again) which is in sheath and IT IS growing new roots-- but I'm too scared to repot it. Its growing in rocks so it's not as if the media can break down and it still has a lot of room in the pot so I think I will leave it to be on the safe side.

A question about the sheath-- it looks empty, would this be the type that would sit empty for some months before starting buds? I read that it's summer blooming but it seems pretty close to summer to not see buds.

[silken]

If it is in rocks then there is no need to re-pot. With such a complex hybrid and not having one myself, its hard to say if the sheath will sit empty or develop blooms soon. Maybe someone else who grows this one will give you an answer. Orchid Wiz shows that most of the awards given to this hybrid in the U.S. were in July so that does seem to be a bloom time for it. If that is the case it needs to start growing a spike soon. Often if the plant is small, I get a sheath but no blooms until the next year so that could happen as well.