Here is information about
Cattleya orchid and some
history.
Cattleya orchid photos
are always a pleasure to look
at, a gorgeous bloom is
real eye candy. Today this
flower is always a
cattleya hybrid. This
flowers
have been named William Cattley
in the early 19th century. The
earliest named
was the Cattleya labiata.
Since then there has been a
mystique about them.
From the
hobbyist perspective they are
probably the most popular plant
one of the reason for that is
they have one of the largest
flowers, 5 inches across.They
are harder to grow than other
and most of them
flower only once per year this last only about 2 - 3 weeks.
These
cattleya orchids are
probably the easiest to care for and
like all plants need water, light and
fertilizer. Playing some nice music or
talking to them doesn't hurt either.
Most of the wild cattleya grow in rain
forests of South America, namely in
Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Mexico.
They flourish in the Andes from
altitudes near sea level to high
altitudes of 9 - 10,000 feet. These
cattleya orchids are truly epiphytes or air
plants. So, they are used to being
partly covered by the canopy of the rain
forest and get considerable humidity and
bright light to grow.
Being in the forest they
are used to diffuse light all be it
bright light. The pseudopods are the
cattleya orchids main way to hold water which is
so important for their growth and life.
It is from the pseudopods that the
orchid flowers come from.
Being in the forest and at various
altitudes there are a wide range of
temperatures that cattleya orchids plants are used
to. In the winter and higher altitudes
these cattleya orchid plants become accustom to temps
which can go as low as 50 - 55 degrees
in the winter and as high as 80-90
degrees in the summer.
Humidity is the friend to cattleya
orchid.
We
can understand this from being in rain
forests. Most cattleya do well with
being set on humidity trays. These are
metal or plastic trays that are filled
with pepples and then half full with
water.
The plant roots cannot sit in
water for a long period of time or else
they will get root rot. Allow for good
air circulation but not sitting in
direct aim of an air vent.
Generally, watering cattleya orchids twice a week does
well during their growth and flowering
period and once a week during their
period of rest.
that can and should get dry between
watering. This aids in the growth of
healthy pseudopods. Be sure that the
potting medium allow the water to drain
out fairly rapidly.
To check to see if a cattleya orchid plant needs water
stick your finger about 1 inch into the
potting material and see if it comes out
dry or damp. If dry it needs watering.
If damp it may be able to go another day
or two without water.
As you can see in
this photos hybrids have
the same great colors as the species and
both have a relatively short bloom
,cycle that means having
great colors in the
house continuously buy
more orchids, orchid
seeds are also
available. The flowers
are easy to care for
also easy to set
up, they also bring a
bit more green into the
house since leaves are
usually larger than
other orchid leaves.
When watering allow the water to flow
into the cattleya orchids plant and then drain right out
into the sink and not into the humidity
tray. You can let the water flow
onto the plant for about 20-30
seconds that's enough. If
the plants blossom in the winter or
spring water them about once a week and keep the lighting
the same.
