Cattleya walkeriana (standard pink-flowered form)

[smweaver]

Finally got this guy to bloom (although kind of pathetic to only get one flower). After failing for years to get flowers from this plant, and after reading Harry Akagi's (Catwalker's) comments about this species needing uninterrupted darkness at night during the fall, I decided to try an experiment. Every night for the last four months I've been covering the plant with a large box after sunset in order to block any light from getting to it. I'm not sure if that was all that was needed to get it to bloom, but it produced a viable spike this year, so I'm counting that as a small victory (and thank you, Harry, for the encouragement in the numerous posts you've contributed on this species). The scent is fantastic too.

Steve

[tuvoc]

Nice.

Kim

[tucker85]

Beautiful! I love that walkeriana fragrance.

[isurus79]

Congrats on getting this one to bloom! The fragrance of these guys is just so amazing!

Yours is also a pretty flat flower, which is nice. Going by the size of the fuzzy p-bulbs in the background, I'd say this is a pretty happy healthy plant too.

[smweaver]

Thanks, guys, for your comments. And yes, Steve, it's a happy and healthy plant--perhaps a bit too happy. A little stress is what I think it might require from now on, at least enough to encourage it to flower regularly instead of contenting itself with doing nothing more than growing fat pseudobulbs. Harry's advice helped, but a small part of me likes to think that repeatedly whispering to it over the course of the summer that it was getting dangerously close to a stage in our relationship where I was considering tossing it over the fence to the neighbor's llamas as a sort of exotic Brazilian salad also had a desirable effect.

[Call_Me_Bob]

looks great! i absolutely love this species! the scent is fantastic! and yours look pretty flat too!

[Leafmite]

I love this and plan to get one in the future. The flower is really a beauty. Interesting about the need for darkness. I had a noID Catt that I tried everything and it grew like crazy but never bloomed (even enjoyed full sun, all day!). Maybe that was what it needed. Or, perhaps the threat of becoming a salad for lamas. I don't know. Thanks for the tip! Glad you got it to bloom!

[WhiteRabbit]

Beautiful!

[DJB]

Pretty!

[smweaver]

I apparently didn't let the flower expand fully before I took the first photos, and it now looks like a different flower altogether. It's not quite as flat as it was last week, but I still like the look of it (and the fragrance has only gotten better).