This was a keiki taken two years ago from a plant I had had for many years. I potted it into coir chips and this is its first flowering. It lives in a south-west-facing conservatory with air-conditioning/heating kept between 19C and 26C with about 60% minimum humidity. I feed it about once a month with Orchid Focus – ‘Grow’ in winter and ‘Bloom’ in summer. The cross was first registered in 1965 by the Rev. M Yamada as a primary hybrid between L. pumila & C. walkeriana. Since then pumila became a Sophronitis, and is now a Cattleya, so the original cross was an Lc., then an Sc., and now simply a Cattleya. Valerie Minogue
Rhyncholaeliocattleya Haw Yuan Gold ‘No. 2’
This one has been growing on now for four years, it came from Chantelle.
I have it potted in Orchiata and keep it high up in good light all year, with a little shading in the summer but with none at all during the winter.
Temperatures in that part of my “Orchid House” (Conservatory) regularly reach 28-30C and go down to 14C on winter nights.
Feeding is the same as all my Cattleyas, a standard (half strength) mix throughout the year, the amount of feed being regulated by the watering regime. Which is simply more water during growth, less during resting and in winter, allowing the plant to become nearly dry between waterings.
This plant was re-potted this year after three years in the same pot. Pest control is achieved by a thorough dunking in and spraying with a systemic insecticide every six months and further spraying three months afterwards. The dunking seems to control moss-flies very well.
Brassocattleya Binosa
This plant was an unlabelled little thing in a collection of plants donated to the Society a few years ago by a friend who was not a member of the Society. I kept it back because it had no label.
It flowered first for me last year when it proved to be Bc Binosa, the hybrid between Brassavola nodosa and Cattleya bicolor, registered by R. Tanaka in 1950 – so it’s been around for quite a while and has probably changed its name since then. I think it’s the basic form of the hybrid as it is distinct from the ‘Warbash Valley’ variety: its flowers are not as large nor as colourful and it’s neater growing. It is though, very long-lasting: the current two trusses have lasted about six weeks which I think is pretty good for a Cattleya.
It grows in intermediate conditions amongst other plants, given no special treatment but in reasonably good light. It is potted in 12-15mm pieces of Orchiata bark with no additions, fed with Akerne’s Rain Mix at every watering and watered every fifth day in summer, every sixth day in winter. It grows very neatly and doesn’t seem to throw out lots of roots to latch it onto the greenhouse staging as other Cattleyas do, which is quite a bonus. Ted Croot
Laelia gouldiana (Gould’s Laelia)
This one has been growing on now for quite a few years. It originally came to me as a couple of back-bulbs from Louisa Haag.
A native of Mexico it is now reported to be extinct in the wild but is still cultivated in the state of Hidalgo, northeast of Mexico City, at 3950–6250 ft. (1200–1900 m) where it is grown most often in a region of deep ravines and are almost always on Mesquite trees in dry, brushy areas in the semiarid mountains. Or so says Orchidwiz.
I keep it high up in good light all year, with a little shading in the summer but with none at all during the winter.
Temperatures in that part of my “Orchid House” (Conservatory) regularly reach 28-30C and go down to 14C on winter nights.
Feeding is the same as all my Cattleyas, a standard (half strength) mix throughout the year, the amount of feed being regulated by the watering regime. Which is simply more water during growth, less during resting and in winter, allowing the plant to become nearly dry between waterings.
The growing medium is my standard mix of medium bark and chopped Copra (In Swedish, Kokocrap..) with a little charcoal thrown in for seasoning. The bark seems to stand up well with little sign of deterioration. This plant has not been re-potted now for two or three years and the bark appears to still be in good condition. Charles Ford
Laelia purpurata, Now Cattleya purpurata.
This was described in 1852 by Lindley and placed into the Central American genus Laelia based on its 8 pollinia (masses of organized pollen grains) instead of the usual 4 found in Cattleya, a trait of all the large flowered Brazilian Laelia species. Because of their similarity to Cattleya (and dissimilarity to other Laelia) they became known as “Cattleyode” Laelia or the Cattleya-like Brazilian Laelias.
Recent DNA research has proven that they are in fact quite distinct from other Laelia in the Americas, and are in fact simply large flowered Cattleya. The first name change for this group happened in 2008 from Laelia to Sophronitis until that genus, locks stock and barrel, was transferred into Cattleya a year later. So, though this plant is still mostly known by growers as Laelia purpurata, it now is officially in the genus Cattleya.
I grow this with all my other Cattleyas and Dendrocoryne Dendrobiums, giving as much light as the plant will stand without scorching and allowing the plant to nearly dry out before watering. I fertilise in the same way as I do for all my plants; by using Rain Mix all year round and varying watering according to demand. Resting plants need less water and so receive less fertiliser.
With Cattleya purpurata though; I find it is more important to avoid over watering during growth than with other Cattleyas. An excess of water will result in good growth but also produce weak stems which will tend to kink at the leaf base because of the weight of the leaf and if this happens they will not produce flowers.
A distinctly dryer period when growths are mature, usually in spring, will allow them to ‘ripen’ and will promote flowering. Charles Ford