Catts blooming season North Hemisphere

[rbarata]

Hello, my friends

I was thinking about getting myself a my first Catt. and the opportunity happened today. In the supermarket there were 3 different catts but in all of them the flowers were fading already. I didn't bought any because of this.

Hence my question: are we in the bolloming season ending for catts?

[PaphMadMan]

Different species and hybrids of Cattleya can bloom in every month of the year, and some hybrids bloom more than once a year. Keep checking the store regularly and you should find Catts in bud or just starting to flower sooner or later.

[WhiteRabbit]

^^ indeed!

I have a couple Catt (hybrids) blooming now, one with buds with at least another month to go, one with buds in sheath, others are spring and summer bloomers, or bloom on every new growth, which in a mature plant can be 2-3x a year.

[silken]

Me too. I have Catts that have different bloom habits. Some multiple times a year, others same time every year but many at different regular bloom times. Some bloom every 9 months or so, and that makes their bloom time change every year. If you get enough (like me) you can have blooms year round

[emg53]

Catts aren't like phals and dendrobiums that have flowers that last a couple of months. The flowers on a catt usually only last 2 weeks if you're lucky. So even if you found one blooming the flower won't last long. This is why you usually see phals and dens in the big box stores.

[Fairorchids]

Cattleya species are seasonal. Once you hybridize, you get plants that can bloom any time of the year.

Full size plants usually bloom only once every 9-12 months.
Many compact (mid size) plantw bloom every 6-9 months.
Many mini Catts bloom 2-3 times a year.
= the smaller the plant, the faster it grows a new growth to blooming size.

Some of the non-standard Catts have very waxy flowers, which can lasr 3-4 weeks.

Some full size Catts grow two new growths a year, with the younger growth blooming 6 weeks after the older.

To know what you get, buy from a grower (nursery or web site), and not from a grocery store.