Project 2016: Cattleya walkeriana
 

Cattleya walkeriana has been chosen as the project plant for 2016.

I have added the listing of sites where popular Cattleya can be found. Feel free to add other links!

Cattleya walkeriana
Elsner Orchideen - Elsner Orchideen - Cattleya Naturformen Seite 8

Paramount has the C. walkeriana and the Leptotes bicolor:
Species

Cattleya walkeriana: Andy's Orchids, Gold Country,
Orchids, H&R, Jewell Orchids, Hausermann's, Odom's, SBOE, Seattle Orchids, Orchids Limited

Here is the link to one of Catwalker808's posts about the C. walkeriana:

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...-blooming.html

Dangit, I was just about to make my decision and vote Leptotes bicolor because I already have that and uh... stuff is happening right now that's making me think it would be stupid of me to spend more money

You could always join the project at a later date. :)

True. If I do, I'll probably get it from Hausermann's; I like their prices.

I don't know how to add the link but Fantasy Orchids has the walkeriana but I don't know if they have the leptotes as they don't always post all that they have.

I guess I should say that they have the semialba one any way.

So do we all start saying when and where we got our plants here? I have never taken part in a project before.
Anyways, I just bought a C. walkeriana semi-alba several weeks ago at the Edmonton orchid show from Ten Shin Orchids. It was bare root but he said he grows his in bark. I know they are often mounted but I am not always around to water mounted plants. So I gave it a seaweed soak and then potted it in a 3 inch air cone pot with medium bark. A few decent roots but not too many so I hope it gets established. I think it might be a near bloom size plant. It's not real large, but they are small plants anyways.

I am editing to add a photo of my C. walkeriana var. semi-alba:

My project walkeriana is coming from Andy's Orchids and the description says that it is mounted. It should ship this week. :)

---------- Post added at 02:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:06 PM ----------

That's a nice alba walkeriana that they are selling. If I didn't already have an alba dolosa, that one would have been my choice. :)

---------- Post added at 02:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:11 PM ----------

Usually, if you can, you post pictures of the project orchid, too. :)

Ok I am glad this is one of our plants for this year. I did get the plant at the end of June 2015 from SVO.
All my plants on that order were great except this little guy looked worse for wear and maybe got smashed in shipping. Here are the pictures from that day and then from today, it's still not pretty yet:

Attachment 120263

Attachment 120264

C. walkeriana 'SVO' 4N x C. walkeriana 'SVO Best' 4N

I am anxious to see the mounted one from Andy's, maybe I will get another.

Cattleya walkeriana semi-alba 'Carmela'. I just picked this up about 2 weeks ago at my local Lowes. For $8!!!

We're going out of town for this week. Ordering my C. walkeriana when back.

Going to challenge myself and try to grow it outside. The squirrels better be on good behavior.

I just went to the nearest Lowes and, amazingly enough, they had bag babies ($6.98) and, even more amazingly, they had a Cattleya walkeriana 'Carmela' seedling. It wasn't in the greatest shape but it does have a new growth so I am not too worried. I am soaking it in Seaweed solution overnight to give it a boost. Comparing it to my older C. walkeriana, it is going to be a few years before it blooms.

Wanted to give another view of my smashed orchid, it never straightened out.

Attachment 120278

Maybe not, but it has a lovely new growth started, so eventually that wrinkled leaf won't matter :)

---------- Post added at 12:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:07 AM ----------

It is so cute !

Leafmite, show us a picture of your older plant if you can. I'd love to see it.

Here it is, the C. walkeriana I bought a couple of years ago from Al's Orchid Greenhouse. I find this one to be a very easy grower so I am hoping the new ones will follow suit. I haven't bloomed this one, though. :|

Leafmite do you think it was too small or maybe it needs higher light to bloom? You have so many s.bulbs and it looks so healthy.

Yes, it is a seedling but I think this last set of growths should have been blooming size...or maybe very close. Without knowing anything about its parentage, it is difficult to say. I am not too worried, though, it will bloom eventually. :)

I'm going to use the walkeriana I already own, should probably bloom this season haha

and i will do the same ,using a plant i had for a while
because i have not seen any Blooms on it at all :(
need all the help i can get

this is my C.walkeriana v coerulea X walkeriana v coerulea

Attachment 120308

Okay....here is the Story
Got it from H&R 5 yes 5! years ago and so far all that it's doing is growing.For 4 years I grew it in Lava Rock...no blooms,then I moved it into Bark....and still no blooms :(
Grow it intermedia and about 4 inches under a T5 Light
Water once a Week and gets ,like the rest of my Catt 's fertilizer 3 Weeks in a Row and a just water the fourth Week.Thats what I have been doing and to me sounds like I'm missing something or what is the reason it will not bloom for me ....HELP :)

Of course you can use one you have had for a while but you need to post the pictures, tell us how long you have had it, how you are growing it (how it is potted, etc.) and tell us where you bought it. That is part of the project. :)

When this one won, I was honestly not intending to buy another C. walkeriana but when I started checking out the sites to confirm they had them.... Then to see the one locally, in a box store! I am impressed you can resist getting a new one. :)

If I found one in a big box store I would buy it right then. My local stores only have phals.

I have 3 recently purchased C. Walkerianas. One found at Lowes a while back, another two found at a different Lowes later on. All are Carmela clone & the same age.

One I have planted inside the hollow central part of a tree fern slab (see attached photo). The other two are in bark, in a net pot, nested loosely in a plastic pot. One of the potted ones may be moved to a mount when root growth seems right.

Very cool! And lucky to find 3!

If you have a Lowes in the area, you should check, anyway. The one where I found mine barely ever has even Phals.... I think that is why I am still finding it difficult to believe that what I brought home was a real orchid. :|

Here is the little orchid in its new home, just getting started. I really love seedlings...so small and cute.

When contemplating whether to buy one of these, I used the Search function to dig up all the Orchid Board threads on this plant. I learned an enormous amount, and highly recommend others do this. A member named catwalker808, who no longer posts, is at a nursery in Hawaii and grows this plant. His posts are extremely informative. There are a few things about Cattleya walkeriana that are different from other Cattleyas.

The new growth looks good, and the roots seem to be coming along nicely. When did you repot it?

Here is the link to Catwalker808's article:

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...-blooming.html

The past information that was posted should be very helpful; you might also want to plug Cattleya walkeriana into the search bar on Youtube and look at how/where the plants are growing in nature. Many of them are very high up in trees (ie bright shade, constant airflow, quick drying); I'd been toying with the idea of mounting mine when it arrives, though I now think that it will go into tree fern chunks in a clay pot instead.
Good growing all,
Adam

I have two seedling C. walkeriana, both from SVO. They arrived in 3" pots in mid December 2015:
SVO 5363 C. walkeriana (walkeriana v. alba 'Pendentive' AM/AOS x walkeriana 'SVO's Passion' AM/AOS)
SVO 5365 C. walkeriana v. coerulea ('Chouju' JC/AOS x 'Wenzel's Son')

The plants are extremely different in appearance. The coerulea has short, almost spherical and very small pseudobulbs, and offsets profusely. The other has much larger, more elongated pseudobulbs, and has not branched yet.

The non-coerulea was beginning a new growth on arrival. I soon moved it to semi-hydroponics. It is close to completing the new growth. I didn't realize this plant spaces pseudobulbs somewhat widely on the rhizome, as do some Bulbophyllums. I should have used a much larger container. The new growth ran to the far edge of the 1 quart / 1 liter S/H container and turned upright. There is no room for another growth in that container.

The coerulea was just beginning a few new growths, and has made a total of six. They are not mature yet. It is still in its 3" arrival pot. This plant grows in a tight clump, with minimal distance between pseudobulbs.

One photo shows the coerulea in February 2016, with some new growth. The other shows both plants this week.

The habitat information can be misleading unless considered over the entire year. They get water all year despite 5 months with no rain. There is heavy winter dew at night. During the summer they are in full shade; the deciduous trees leaf out. In the winter it's almost full sun. The catwalker808 thread Leafmite dug up and referenced below covers cultivation in great detail.

Thank you for the Link ,Leafmite
That's a great Article ...I now moved mine away from being directly under the Light to the side for now and will move it back in Fall.I hope that will do it.

Thanks, I repotted right when I got it.

I do believe I read that last summer when I was considering getting my walkeriana. I have the same ones as wintergirl from SVO. But when mine came with other plants of course, Fred had sent me an extra walkeriana. It was smaller than the one and when I re-potted it there were 2 plants in it. So I have 3 all different sizes. The smallest one I dried up it's first new growth as I wasn't watering it enough. I now water both small one almost every day. I re-potted the largest one in Feb.

All are in bark mix and all have a new growth. When I got them all were close together but now my largest is getting long between psb. I wish it would not do that.

Also I still may get another one. Pics of when I first got them with a nice fat psb now they are thinner as I always under water :roll: I'm trying harder.

They appear to be really happy and healthy! :)

Shannon, wow 3 for the price of one! They all look like they are growing well. I hope someone gets one to bloom.

Also I think I will look at Lowe's for a bag baby...

I know, why was I blessed I don't know. But that is the fact and this is not the first time he has send me with a freebie. He is so high on my list I can't even tell you.

I went to order from him recently, including something he had that I really wanted, and... it was gone. I placed my order and asked to buy even a small straggler of the sold-out plant. He sent it as a gift.

I went to Lowes and there were no bag babies at that location. There is another store that may have them, but I am calling first. I did buy some nice plants for outside though.

Good luck!

---------- Post added at 11:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:44 PM ----------

That sort of thing always makes someone's day a little more special. :)