Night time light sensitivity of C.walkeriana hybrids
 

I’ve read about C.walkeriana not being able to bloom if the plant receives anything more than moonlight at night—is that trait passed down to any progeny?

I have a Mahalo Jack which is half walkeriana and nowhere near blooming size, but was curious if in the future it might need to stay away from street lights at night!

Thanks in advance!

I just posted pictures of Ctt Final Blue, which is 75% walkeriana, according to OrchidRoots. It doesn't seem to be affected by incidental lights at night. Grown indoors, there are many times that other lights in the house go on and off during the hours the grow lights are off. As you can see, it blooms. This is the second blooming in six months.

Thanks Dusty! I hope for half the success you had with your Ctt Final Blue!

I'm sure you will. If memory serves, I believe it is C. lueddemanniana that has issues with ambient light. Maybe Isurus79 will weigh in on this.

I have several different varieties of walkeriana and I have never noticed any sensitivity to day length. In fact, I have specifically avoided large flowered Cattleyas as several don’t bloom if the growing area has some light pollution at night.

Luckily that pesky habit of not blooming because of light pollution is extremely recessive and disappears even with a little bit of introgression. In fact, this trait is one way I found to figure out if you've got a plant with loddigesii in the background. The walker/loddi hybrids seem to bloom regardless of night lights while the "pure" species seem sensitive.

Worth noting is that original public post about walkeriana night light sensitivity was reported by Harry Akagi (American walkeriana breeder extraordinaire who is the "H" of H&R Nurseries in Hawaii) under his pseudonym "catwalker808" in this thread: C walkeriana - Tips for Growing & Blooming

Luckily, I haven't had any issues with luedde! Just walkers.

For better or worse, most American walkeriana vendors have loddigesii in the background, which removes the night light sensitivity. I suspect you have these types of walkers in your care.

Man I’m glad that’s recessive! I picked up on your verification method during your chat about the Snowblind/Kenny you’ve got as well—you’re always a great resource! And upon first impression, I never would have suspected ‘catwalker808’ to be Harry Akagi :rofl: I just imagined like a dog walker…but with cats in the 808 area code :biggrin:

Ya, Harry kept his identity secret for a long time!

Cattleya walkeriana from area code 808.

speaking of night sensitivity, Stephen have you noticed stunted growths with night light? I have had issues with nobilior, which I find more challenging to grow than walkeriana, and I am wondering if it is due to nighttime light. I had for a while put a brown bag over the walkeriana section at night since I often do maintenance at nighttime after the house is quiet, but had gotten out of the habit of doing so...(back to it)