Cattleya warscewiczii First Bloom
 

Hello All,

This is my first bloom on this Cattleya warscewiczii. I purchased a small group of these 3 years ago from the Pacific Orchid Expo in SF, not really sure where they came from originally. After killing a few and torturing them all I finally figured out that they hate my greenhouse and do much better outside with the cymbidiums.

The flowers are only 5 inches across on this bloom but they are very fragrant, really pleasant sweet scent during the day. Hopefully I can improve my culture for next year and get the blooms to be a little larger.

Has anyone else had trouble cultivating this species in a greenhouse? When inside and growing they tend to blacken the new growths from the tip of the leaf to the rhizome and rarely produce clean foliage. I have a similar problem with Cattleya jenmanii and gaskelliana, which are all growing outdoors now with the cymbidiums.

Beautiful blooms, good job!

Beautiful! Do you have pics of the black growing tips? At first glance, it sounds like you might have calcium deficiency.

I do not believe it to be a calcium deficiency as I fertilize quite regularly and use a complete fertilizer with all of the necessary micronutrients. I have tried treating for fungus but the problem is persistent on just a few species, other growing nearby have no signs of problems and grow and flower quite easily.

All are unifoliates that have this problem and I have others growing in the same space without any problems, often growing next to the problematic plants in the greenhouse. Since placing many outdoors it has stopped, which would likely hint at fungus but does not explain why it is limited to these few species.

To date the problematic species are

C. jenmanii
C. rex
C. warscewiczii
C. mossiae
C. gaskelliana

Growing in the same space without any problems are

C. maxima
C. labiata
C. trianae
C. lueddemanniana
C. percivaliana

I have not noticed any bifoliate species to have this problem, nor any of the allied genera growing nearby.

The pictures show damage on C. jenmanii and a seedling of C. warscewiczii, the new growths are clean and have not shown any signs of this problem.

Ya, if moving the plants outside clears a lot of the die-back off, it could be fungal. You might want to give the plants a series of Physan treatments before bringing them inside for the winter. When I saw the pics, my first thought was fertilizer burn. How often are you fertilizing the plants?

The cattleyas and other hanging plants get fertilized 2 times a week, 1/2 strength dilution and they are watered at least one time between feedings with plain water. Most are watered 4 - 5 times a week while it is hot outside, towards the fall I will drop the feedings to 1 time a week and during the coldest months I fertilize only once a month.

I have had problems with fertilizer in Paphiopedilum and Phragmipedium, showing similar leaf burns, but with the cattleyas it comes and goes in cycles which has been problematic in the past. I will treat with Physan this year before bringing them back in, hopefully that will stop it from occurring until spring when I can take the plants back outside.

Interesting. Try implementing only one action (only treat with Physan or only modify fertilizing schedule) to get a good idea of what is the problem. If you change two variables and the problem clears up, you'll never really know what the problem was. While unsightly, it doesn't look like your plants are currently in danger of dying or being severely injured in the short term.