Cattleya dowiana question
 

Does anybody know why cattleya dowiana var. aura seems to be more available for sale than cattleya dowiana?


Thanks,
Steve

I think on at least 1 website, it says something about aurea having maybe larger petals, and maybe more popular colour, and other features. Although ------ aurea is still a dowiana.

Just depends on who is breeding what and where those plants are in their growth cycle. Rosita is usually the most commonly available variety in my opinion.

That's my opinion as well.

Does anyone know how the rose color comes through in hybrids with v. rosita? I've read that the yellow is exceedingly recessive and that C. dowiana tends to bring out deeper lavenders. Both these runs against what one would expect.

-Keith

I don’t that a whole lot of rosita hybrids have been made. I would assume you make the reds even darker than the typical dowiana.

After giving some thought, it may be that C. dowiana aurea is more common right now because H&R Nurseries has been selling 4N x 2N and 4N x 4N aurea crosses from their select stock for around a year. Maybe earlier since that's when I noticed them. I've been growing 65 seedlings from the H&R 4Nx 4N compot for about 10 months. A lot of the aurea on eBay are about the same size as mine. Some are slightly larger, others are slightly smaller.

-Keith

I would love to know if you ever make these plants available for sale. Makes me wonder how the future plans of H&R will affect the availability of quality Cattleyas and Dendrobiums. Thanks!

Steve

I'm a hobbiest, not a grower, but I do intend to sell most of these as they grow (see attached). I don't have anywhere near the room required to grow 65 C. dowiana to maturity. If you are sure you want a seedling as small as these, we can discuss it if you message me. I may take a day or so to respond because I don't always log into the forum more than once per day.

One of the interesting things Harry said to about this cross in email is this "Until recent years, we protected most of our identified 4N plants and only used them for breeding to make many superior 3N crosses. It cost us many many years and lots of R&D costs. We are now getting on in years and no longer feel the need to protect these plants as breeding parents. Consequently, we have been producing and releasing a number of 4N crosses ... such as the 4N selfing you purchased".


-Keith

Couldn't resist this subject, decided to chime in: I also have few seedlings from Harry, aurea 4N kind. They have proved to be very aggressive growers outside in the summer, now they are under growing light in a warm room, and have been doing okay so far. I agree with the fact that H&R plants have been released in '21 and somewhat flooded the market. I saw the plants on eBay and Etsy, easily available.

As much as I would like to get a plant, probably best not to transport a fragile seedling. I have to confess that I am still mesmarized by the photo of C. Ophir on the back cover of Chadwick's book. Hint: I now have a good sized C. xanthina!