I am starting to like Cattleya type orchids more and more. They seem to be perfect for my hot climate and are much more forgiving than any other orchids I have. For a long time I wasn't their huge fan, even though they are striking plants. All because I only saw those huge plants I don't have space for, with huge fluffy flowers I am not fan of.
But there is a lot of smaller species and hybrids. And those I likey :)
They also get attacked by bugs much less (I have one dendrobium that must be trips favorite food and I just can't get rid of them).
As for now I have 2 of this types. None of them is pure Cattleya, but a cross, but it doesn't matter. I usually buy plants because I like hem, not because of the name. This one here is a regular bloomer. The second one I got as a young plant and has never bloomed for me yet. But.... there is something popping so hopefully this year I will finally get to see the flowers.
Cattleya Little Lemon Drops x Cattleytonia Why Not
Both orchids from the name are the parents of what I have. But please google Cattleytonia Why Not. It is so freaking adorable that I wouldn't mind if my one looked a bit more like this.
Because it is a cross grown from seed (no, not by me), the flowers may vary between the siblings and you actually never know how exactly they will look like until they bloom.
The flowers stay open for a few weeks. Here they slowly start to fade already. I think they are bit more yellow this time. I think some other time they were a bit darker and more pink. This can be caused by the temperature/season they bloom in. She is not picky and can bloom all year round as soon as the bulb matures.
No flagrance on this one.
I got it as young plant some years ago and since then it has grown so much even despite my slight neglect. But as I said, they are tough! And they do prefer to dry out completely between the watering (and that I can definitely provide :p). This one has relatively small and skinny pseudobulbs, but they do store enough water to help it survive the dry times. The bulb will shrivel a bit and this is a sign for me that I forgot again. But worry not - they plump back up after they are watered and look like nothing happened.
I would normally put water into the container I keep the pot it and let it sit even for 2 hours (I water like that all my orchids in summer. In winter I do not soak them for this long). Then I remove all the water out and she is good to go for another week or two. Once a month I add water with fertilizer. And that's about all the care she gets.
She grows fast with few news growths every year and each of those growth produces flowers after they mature. It is still a rather small plant, but with so many leaves and growing in multiple directions it starts to look like a nice bush.
I still cant get few of those pseudobulbs to bloom in the same time.
Below you can see sweet and sticky sap that forms on the flower stems. It's nothing bad. It's what they do (usually after watering), but it can attract insects.
This is another little one starting to grow from the base.
Here on the left you can see sticking out maturing bulb. This one will soon open the inner leaf and start growing another set of flowers.
Definitely one of my top 5 favourite orchids.
Shot with Nikon D5500 + Sigma 105mm lens
All photos and text are my own.
Haha.. I just posted in the Orchid Community Too!! 😁 Great minds think alike. 😊
Thanks for contributing the community @ewkaw
I saw a Cattleya on a trip to a nursery not long ago. They wanted nearly $45 USD for it. I passed it up. Not willing to risk that much on something I may kill unintentionally. lol. It was absolutely, amazingly pretty though. I didn't notice if it was producing sticky sap excretions. That could be a drawback for my taste.
Yours are so pretty! LOVE them!!! 😍
See ya around Hive! 😁
Yea they are not cheap. That's why I bough young plants. Much cheaper, but I had to wait much longer to see the flowers.
I know sometimes normal shops have them. The hybrids anyway. They are still more expensive than Phals though.
On the plus side is that they are much easier to propagate than Phals (those need to grow a keiki). You can just split it into two when the plant is big enough and have two plants. And harder to kill :p
The sap is not biggie :) It comes and goes. I don't find it annoying at all and it doesn't do any harm around either.
Now I go look at your post.
See ya Brad :)
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Awesome photos amd very beautiful flowers! I think I might get into buying plants and taking pictures of them soon. We shall see. But these are definitel an inspiration for that idea.
Thank you!
It is definitely handy to have them at home and be able to arrange them as I like.
Glad I could inspire :)
My pleasure. I might need to get good at taking pictures though. 😋
With a bit of practice you will :)
Yes, practice is in need!
Very beautiful 🧡
Thanks :)
Lovely photos! So yellow!
Thank you!
@tipu curate 🌼
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You are a big fan of different flowers!
Hahaha yea :)
Beautiful flowers. Do you think that the multiple growths are oriented towards the source of sunlight or it is just random?
Thank you!
It is just how it grows. It starts to spread as it gets bigger and grows in different directions :)
Congratulations!
Very beautiful Сattleya!
I had one, the other, and she died
Thank you!
This one was my first and I am glad it is still alive :)
The flowers are adorable.
And I'm glad that I can look at your beauty at the photo! :-)
I love the color of this orchid! Our grocery stores seem to sell the same orchid types - I don't think we have this variety! We have had a lot of rain for most of 2021. We are ahead of our usual rainfall. Hope all is well with you! Hope you get some rain soon!
Most have the same type here too. Sometimes some Dendrobium, which are super nice too.
Thank you, everything is fine. The rain will come eventually.... just those dry summers seem so long!
Hope you are ok too :) Have a great week!
Beautiful, thank you for sharing, this one might have to go on my wishlist! :)
Thank you!
Get it if you can :) It is a really joyful plant.