Recommendations for smallish indoor Cat/Stan/etc, please
 

I live in an apartment with no outdoor space. I'd like to get something to grow in an east facing window that gets unobstructed light until noon. I live in Houston Texas which is hot. That means that between May and Oct, the A/C will probably be running 24x7 keeping the place in the 71-75° range. The east side and north side of the apt has a lot of windows and gets a lot of light. There are no south or west facing light sources at all.

I currently have 7 other orchids which include a couple of phals, a couple oncidiums, a cattleya, prosthecia and a grammatocymbidium (that I found out later may end up too big).

I'd like to grow a member of the Catasetinae family. I like the whacky looking bald pbulbs when they are dormant, and the plants and blooms when they aren't, and the yearly life cycle is fascinating to me.

Can you give any recommendations of any specific hybrids or species that would do well in a fairly temperate environment that I will work to keep humid, but will probably not be super humid. I can water daily if I need to.

I guess the main things is that it needs to not get too big. Maybe 2' - 2.5' is a max?

Thanks

Some Catasetums and related genera might want more light than you can give - but maybe not. Fred Clarke at Sunset Valley Orchids hybridizes this group of plants. Along with hybridizing big plants, he works on smaller plants for indoor growers. You might drop him a line and ask him your question. I'm sure we all would be interested in his answers, too.

Quite a few Stanhopeas fit your size description and do not need as much light as Catasetums. Go to the Internet Orchid Species Photo Encyclopedia and Stanhopea Culture Blogspot to read about some Stanhopeas. Most of them do send flower spike down through the medium, so they need to be grow in open baskets.

There really aren't any Stahopeas that stay small. Paphinia stays on the smaller side, but still requires a basket to grow. I've got a Houlettia odoratisima (terrestrial, doesn't need a basket) which gets tall, but seems to stay compact. You might want to start with those!

Catasetum denticulatum and its hybrids (Sunset Valley has tons for sale!) are the smallest commonly available Catasetinae here in the U.S. I'd start with one of those.

I second the denticulatum hybrids. Ctsm Alexa, Karen Armstrong, Chuck Taylor and the like.

Thanks all.