What is the life cycle of a cattleya amethystoglossa?
 

Hello everyone! I bought a Cattleya from Brazil in the spring, I live in England - the northern hemisphere, she arrived without roots with a large growth and a dried sheath, a month later it gave a new growth and now it is almost mature and the sheath is visible in it. in all information there is that it blooms in winter - at the beginning of spring .. I have a question, does it now live in the regime of the northern hemisphere or is it still the southern hemisphere? in Brazil it is summer now, does this mean that this growth will rest for another six months? This growth is not yet fully mature. after maturation of growth and sheath, is there a rest period before flowering? thanks

Hi hjk --- if the information all align roughly late fall and early spring (in general) --- then use that as a rough guide for your part of the world.

For cases where orchids are grown in special places - requiring technology (artificial lighting, heating, cooling, humidity control etc) ------ then those growers might just provide the orchid with whatever it needs to grow well, and then most likely - eventually - the orchid is expected to produce flowers. And some environmental tweaking might be needed if the orchid doesn't produce flowers when it has become matured for very long periods of time.

I'd be quite curious to know where you ordered from that ships to the UK?
Was cites and importation a problem with the new changes?

Ps, after 6 months here in the UK it should now be on uk time by now

I heard of a Paph shipped from New Zealand to the US.

It first bloomed in July (= winter in NZ). The next blooming was in October, and the 3rd blooming was in February, so that plant took 18+ months to recognize the reversal of seasons. I have no idea whether Cattleya are equally slow to adapt.

Be aware that C. amethystoglossa is one of the most difficult bifoliates. It should only be repotted when new roots are 3/8"-3/4" long (10-20 mm). If you fail to follow this, the plant can/will sulk for a year or more (and some never recover).

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Oh, I am very interested in this subject, from a different angle though. In September I acquired a 4N amethystoglossa that is roughly a yard tall. Last new growth (not grown by me) is about 2/3 the height of other bulbs. She started a new growth, and second point is developing as well. Is that normal for this time of the year? I am in NJ, plants are grown outside in summer, home in cold period, no special arrangements, just East facing window with plenty of light. Pretty much all my catt's start growing in late January the earliest.

A forum member here has a really good set of videos on this plant:

Bifoliate Cattleyas amethystoglossa August 2019 Austin, Texas - YouTube

Thank you!

You plant will likely take a few years to adapt to the northern hemisphere, as do mine. I find that bifoliates (including amethystoglossa) will grow all year round if you keep watering them, so there really isn't a "rest" period. However, I've never seen them bloom outside the usual spring period.

---------- Post added at 03:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:36 PM ----------

Yep, I've found this is probably the most critical key to success with this species. To be honest, I'd actually consider 3/4" long new roots to be too late to repot!

---------- Post added at 03:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:38 PM ----------

You might consider getting a light above this one. I suspect it won't bloom without the additional light. You've got a year or two before this one is blooming size.