Sophronitis coccinea
 

Sophronitis coccinea 4N 'Toshie'.
First time blooming. This is one of Glenn Lehr's (of New World Orchids) plants from his Japan Grand Prix orchid exhibit.

I've had this plant 3 years. I almost lost it until Peter Lin (mini-catts) saved the day and told me to take care of it like a Cattleya. Thank you Peter!

Ironically, through DNA analysis, most of the genus Sophronitis has since been re-classified as Cattleya.

Enjoy.

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2815/1...f521e546_c.jpg

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5549/1...0deaa811_c.jpg

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3670/1...7e46d388_c.jpg

Cheers.
Jim

Beautiful plant and flower Delaware Jim. I bought a very healthy and young plant in September 2013 from New World Orchids. I grew it like Neofinetia. But after it died a slow death last month, all the while reading as much as I can about growing this plant, and loosing the battle...your posting gives me encouragement to try again.

Beautiful plant Jim! Now that you mastered the flowering if this species, you should get more blooms each time. They grow quite easily I find.
I don't have a 4N, but the regular form also needs a ton of light (almost touching T5 HO) and watering several times a day in order to bloom.

Fantastic color. Well done.

Kim

Very bright color, nice

Thanks all for the kind comments.

That's what was happening to me too. It came in pure sphagnum in a clay pot and I was keeping it with and treating it like a Neo.

By chance, Peter posted pictures of his on flickr blooming and I e-mailed him and asked how he kept his. He told me treat it like a Cattleya, so I repotted it in bark in a plastic pot and increased the light until I got the purple vein in the centre. Now it grows like a weed and you see the results.

You should try again. Now that I know what to do, it's a very rewarding genus. I have an S. cernua 'Leesburg' and an S. cernua 'H & R' x cernua in bud now also that I'll be posting soon. First time bloomers for them too.

Matter of fact, I'll want to get people's opinion of the 'H & R' x cernua as it's looking more like an alagoensis than a cernua.

Cheers.
Jim

Gorgeous!! A very very nice clone for me: shape, color, everything...

Mine grows in sphagnum too :( first thing in Spring would be transplanting I guess...

Very fine round cohesive form of the flower. Great growing.

Beautiful!

This species has been on my wish-list for a while! I really must get one!

Wow! That is just gorgeous! Is this the same size and does this take the same care as a cernua? That flower is amazing.

Beautiful Jim! I asked you this same question on Flicker, so sorry for the redundancy, but exactly what did you do with the plant before and after talking to Peter? Was it just a matter of new media and brighter light, or is there more to your story of success? I'm also interested in your temps, especially the maximum.

Fantastic! I love the bloom and the color!

This is larger than a cernua. Leaves are about 2 to 2.5 cm wide and about 7 to 8 cm long and the flower is about 5 cm across. It's supposed to prefer conditions a little cooler and wetter than cernua, but I generally treat them the same.

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When I first got it, I treated it just like my Neos. It came planted in pure sphagnum moss and I was growing it in an east facing window and kept moist all the time. It would put out a lot of new growths but they kept dying off and then the rhizome started rotting. In Peters email, he simple said treat it just like a Cattleya. So I repotted it in bark and moved it to a south facing window that gets filtered light from a nearby tree. The leaves started showing the tell-tale purple stripe down the mid-vein after I moved it. In the summer, it goes outside on my deck under my Honey Locust tree where it, my S. cernuas, and all my Neos get filtered sun all day. I keep it pretty moist, watering once or twice a week as needed, and fertilising with MSU at 1/4 - 1/2 tsp per gallon (50-100 ppm N).

It's growing like a weed now and this spring I have to repot it. I'm plannning to train a rizome onto a piece of Epiweb/Ecoweb I have and see how it grows mounted.

Cheers.
Jim

I find that my 4n grows much better in Cattleya conditions. I grew mine cool and moist and it suffered, but when I increased daytime temperatures, and bright light it is now happy and blooms nicely. I have a regular form that declined in the warmer conditions, so I grow it cooler like Neos and now it is slowly coming back. They can be a bit tricky sometimes.


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Thanks for the growing tips guys! I've been afraid to try this species because of it's supposed need for for cool temps, but I have a cernua and a wittigiana growing nicely for me so I think I'll give coccinea a try.

That is a kick a*& cardinal red!!! Very pretty!!

Love this shade of red.