Questions regarding care for Slc. Memoria Alvin Beggman 'Poem'
 

Hoping it will be here by the 9th. This will be my first cattleya, any and all advice greatly appreciated! :)

Cattleyas need higher light than Phals and Paphs and an open chunky media that dries quickly. Good drainage holes in the pot. Mine really love clear pots and a good soak in seaweed when re-potting helps too. Below is a link to an AOS culture sheet for Cattleyas.

https://www.aos.org/Default.aspx?id=213

Thank you :)
Wish me luck!

Can anyone tell me how often this should bloom once I learn to care for it properly?

Since it is a hybrid, it is difficult to say when and how often it will bloom. It has mixed parentage with different traits. Many bloom once a year but others grow new growths that mature and produce blooms more quickly. In OrchidWiz this was awarded once in March in the U.S. so it obviously bloomed in the spring if that is any help.

Thanks! What's "orchid wiz"?

OrchidWiz is an Orchid database software. It is like an Orchid encyclopedia and you can do many things with it. I keep all my records of orchids in it. It has a journal for when you re-pot, divide, acquire, when it blooms etc. etc. It also has all the Baker's culture notes on many species and lists the awards and many photos of species and hybrids. I use it a lot as a reference and info source. You can also get a less expensive OW Express smaller version and I believe there are examples of the info on a number of orchids so you can check it out. It gives the lineage of hybrids as well which is very useful.

Here is a link to their site:

OrchidWiz Orchid Database Software Home Page

Very cool! Thanks for the info! :)

I dont know why you chose an Slc for your 1st catt. These grow wildly and dont like to be over watered at all. I would stay away from anymore Slc's if you want a chance to have some success. And the foliage looks like trash all the time bloomin or not IMO. :twocents:

They are all re-classified to Cattleyas now anyways so anyone getting a newly tagged plant won't even know what it is. This hybrid she chose does have one parent that is considered to be a bit difficult (C. esalqueana) according to OrchidWiz and Baker's notes. But I don't find my Slc's to be much different than any other Cattleya in general.