I'm on bloom watch!
 

I'm doing cartwheels right now, after checking my modest collection this am, I have found what is my 1st sheath/bud formation I have had on any of my cattleyas. Will provide a few more details once I get home, but here she is...

Don't jinx it.

Oh, I'm fully aware of the jinx :)

Just excited as I can be, to accomplish something I hadn't yet. When initially getting into orchids, I bought a few too many varieties, not realizing the different things each would require. Eventually realized my cattleyas were not getting nearly enough light. Just last spring I moved them outside until the temps got close to being too cold. Provided some protection with shade cloth from sunburn. Could see how much happier they all were just by the new growths, compared to the new growths from the prior year. Much bigger overall, height and width wise. Since fall, it has just been a waiting game.

why not take a picture daily and see how slowly the flowers progress....

This was actually the "freebie" that Fred sent with my purchase I made a couple years ago.

Question......is this a bifoliate or unifoliate? Only 1 of the 4 pbulbs has 2 leaves, although 2 (including the 1 with the sheath) had a 2nd leaf. Slightly confused

Probably it's ha hybrid between a unifoliate and a bifoliate.

Discussions in the past mentioned that if the plant is a hybrid, then any ancestry involving bifoliate plants can result in a statistical thing, where a generally 1-leaf (per bulb) plant can even produce bulbs with 2 leaves.

But I'm also thinking that even if it's not a hybrid, then it also wouldn't be surprising if 2 leaves or even 3 could grow out from a pseudobulb - because while there are some general patterns seen in nature -- there are often exceptions or deviations from the regular pattern.

Also, there happen to be many Cattleya type orchids that have either 1 leaf or 2 leaves on a single plant on the same rhizome. Many well-known cattleya can be like that.

If one takes a look at their diverse cattleya collection in the garden or green-house, it's likely that one will find orchids with both 1 leaf and 2 leaves on bulbs of one plant on the same rhizome.

Looked it up... it is a very complex hybrid (both parents are complex, the cross not registered at this time), with both bifoliate and unifoliate species from several genera in there. So it will do whatever it wants to do. The important thing... it seems to want to bloom! Well done!

Indeed. Seventeen different species in the ancestry.

OrchidRoots

I don’t see anything in the ancestry which would have been traditionally classified as one of the ‘bifoliates’ but there are lots of ancestors with two leaves per pseudobulb.

And Pot. Orange Tower is only half of it... Pot. What About Love is just as complex. I was counting any species with two leaves per pseudobulb as bifoliate, not just thinking of the classic big bifoliate Catts. At any rate, it is a really complicated mix of Catts and relatives however the genera are sliced and diced. Sophronitis, various rupiculous Laelias, Gur. aurantiaca, and classic Catts. I look forward to photos of the flower!

Congratulations, Cheddarbob! We'll be waiting along with you. :)

Here she is! My 1st cattleya blooms!!! So pumped. We came home from vacation last sunday to these beauties being opened up. On the day we left (the 30th), you could just start to see the tips of the yellow blooms peeking out. No scent whatsoever, and I've checked morning, noon, and night, before and after watering.....nothing.

Beautiful! A lot of the minis aren't fragrant, but they make up for it in being floriferous, not picky about growing conditions, and with colors of the sun.

That was worth the wait. Beautiful and bright yellow!