Cattleya gaskelliana rescue

[taipan]

Originally Posted by smweaver

A local botanical garden was tossing out a number of their cattleya species last fall because of space considerations, and this is one that I rescued. The tag in the pot identified it as Cattleya gaskelliana. It was a bit of a runt when I got it (and it still hasn't completely recovered), and the curator told me that it hadn't flowered for years. It struggled to survive over the winter and spring, but apparently felt decent enough to send up a spike with one flower, which has a wonderful scent. Although the flower hasn't been open for more than a week, I'm going to cut it off later today in the hope that the plant puts all of its energy into getting bigger and healthier. Can anyone who grows this species give me some cultural advice, please--light levels, temperature preferences, rest or no rest, when to repot, etc.? Thanks!

Steve

So much for conservation by Botanical institutions !!!!!
throwing away some of their species. This is one of my favourite Catt.species for which I have a number of clones. Yes "Orchidflowerchild" - Chadwicks have some good info on Catt.species. I grow mine under 60% shade & water everyday ( unless it rains ) but unless you live in an area with constant 30 to 35 deg days then check people in your area.

[sucuz]

Originally Posted by taipan

So much for conservation by Botanical institutions !!!!!
throwing away some of their species. This is one of my favourite Catt.species for which I have a number of clones. Yes "Orchidflowerchild" - Chadwicks have some good info on Catt.species. I grow mine under 60% shade & water everyday ( unless it rains ) but unless you live in an area with constant 30 to 35 deg days then check people in your area.

Yeah, it seems like travesty, but many botanical institutions are limited by space considerations, as mentioned in the original post. It seems to be fairly common practice among such places to cull the collection. When a plant is small, hasn't bloomed in years, isn't performing to expectations, 'not pulling its weight'--it may be viewed as a liability, especially if there are better specimens of the same plant in the collection. Space, and costs involved in the care (fertilizers. staff time, etc) influence the decision. Often volunteers at the facility get adoption rights as a perk before the plants get consigned to the great compost heap in the sky.