The Orchid Source - Orchid Forum

I have a NOID Cattleya-ish hybrid thing I rescued this summer. It's grown two new p-bulbs with two leaves each and a sheath in between. The Cattleyas I've grown usually flowers right after the p-bulb is done growing but this one has stopped and nothing is happening. How am I supposed to care for it in order to get flowers from those sheaths? Any trick I should know of?
I know this is a very basic q but I need an answer

chef -

i know some bifoliate cattleyas will bloom from a dry sheath.

Oh, yes I've heard of that! Thank you, I'll just let it be then, on the dryish side and in extra lights in the window.

It looks a lot like the C intermedia that John M posted in the Species Gallery a moment ago, but mine is with slightly more fat p-bulbs.

Some of the spring bloomers can set sheath in the fall. Just sit tight!

Review Chadwick's book on Cattleyas, or his website, to determine which species bloom on the maturing growths and which species bloom from a dry sheath. Hybrids are often a mixture of the two, as well as mixing in Laelia, Sophronitis, and Rhyncholaelia. Some species will put up a second growth during the year which either blooms at the same time, blooms later, or never blooms. Some hybrids will bloom two or three times per year because of complexity of the parents. The more complex the hybrid, typically the easier it is to bloom them...requiring no special care or dry periods. The best advice for best blooming with few exceptions is to always give your Cattleyas as much light as possible, just short of burning them.

my Slc.Little Fairy has new buds fron a yellow and green sheats

Chef, a lot of spring blooming Cattleya species are photo-periodic sensitive. That is: they NEED long nights and short days to be triggered into bloom. Species like C. mossiae and C. aurantiaca are photo-periodic. They grow in the summer and over the winter they rest and the sheaths dry up and die. Then, after a couple months of short days and long, uninterupted nights, the buds are triggered and they push up out of the dry, dead sheath. These plants can be prevented from blooming by supplementing the day length over the winter. Likewise, photo-periodic Cattleyas can be triggered to bloom on every old, unbloomed sheath that was produced over many years, by ensureing about 6 to 8 weeks of long, uninterupted, dark nights. I once had a Catt that grew and grew and grew; but, even though it produced sheaths on each growth, it did not bloom for 5 or 6 years. Then, I learned about photo-periodism and I made sure that it got long nights. That was the trick. All the old unbloomed, dry, dead sheaths from many years of growth, triggered. I ended up with 84 flowers on 13 psuedobulbs, all at once!

john -

i just learned about photoperiodicity and forcing blooms myself. i understand this is an old trick used by people in the cut flower trade to get blooms during particular holiday periods.

i also understood that not all cattleyas (my particular interest) are photo-periodic. c. labiata leaps to mind.

does anyone else know which other genera or species share this trait?

John, wouldn't that be nice! Lol
I have the lights off 14 hours every night, so I hope that too will work for the flowering of this thing.
Thank you all for the information!

I've kept it under the lamp, in the window, on the dryer side and with darkness 14 hours every night. One of the sheaths have dried up. Since the very beginning there's been some small kind of bud-to-be inside the sheaths but they haven't grown nothing since earlier in about October. I've now set the timer for an extra hour of light. Will that inspire the buds to develop?

"with darkness 14 hours every night"
Only 10 hours of light a day? My plants get a minimum of 12 hrs of light in November and December. January is 13, February 14, April through August is 16.

I'd up the light.

If the problem with this plant is a photoperiodic issue...and it has been receiving total darkness over long nights, it will begin growing buds when it's good and ready, sometime in late winter/early spring. I'd say it's still a bit too early to see any action. You should see buds by late February or mid-March.

Please keep us posted.

Sure will! :-)
Today I gave it water, most of the bulbs had shrivelled good due to sparse watering the last months. Anyway, I couldn't resist to take a peek down the dry sheaths and there is small buds. Though I don't think they've grown any since when the growth were done in the fall.

Oh yeah! One of the bud clusters are growing! It will be nice to see what colour and scent it is on this one! Keep fingers crossed I don't blast it...

I have experienced the same. I didnīt know that the sheath on some Cats can dry up and then the bloom appears. I took off the dried sheath
and I found out little bud. I thought there is no chance it will grow again but in fact it did. Now it some 10mm long and keeps growing.

Can anybody confirm the blooms will mature?

Chef I keep fingers crossed for you.

Pepe

Pepe, the buds should grow and bloom normally for you. However, the sheaths normally provide the flower stem with some support. Now that you've removed the sheath, you may need to stake the stem (when the buds are heavy and close to opening), to support it. Otherwise, the stem, heavy with flowers, may bend and snap off under the weight.

Chef: CONGRATULATIONS on your success at finally getting this plant to initiate the buds. Fingers crossed that they will grow and bloom normally for you now!

John, hello to you after such a long time from my last posts.

Thanks for your advise. I will take a picture once "interesting" things going round.

Pepe

Hello Pepe, Very good. I'll look forward to your photo(s). Good luck!

One of the two bulbs with sheaths have now a long stem with five big buds The other one hasn't grown a bit

[image added]

Click http://forum.theorchidsource.com/ubbthreads.php/galleries/229936.html#Post229936 to view the final result. Thank you much, Guys!

Congratulations, Chef! It looks like a nice aurantiaca hybrid....as has been suggested, probably Gold Digger. It was an aurantiaca hybrid that wouldn't bloom for me until I learned to give it the long winter nights.

John, today I was at my parentīs house where I keep all my orchids during the winter. I have all of them under artif. lights and they seem to like it. My Catt hybrid (probably) is doing fine and the stem with 2 buds is developing quite progresivelly. I have noticed another stem with 2 buds on it and actually this second one made its way through the sheath without my help!!! The flowers seem to be yellowish so I canīt wait they will open for me.
You were 100% correct.
Unfortunatelly I didnīt have the camera with me so pics will be taken later on.
This Catt is also the saver as Chefīs one

Hi all,
here are the pics I took over this weekend. I love the contrast inside the throat. 2nd spike (not on the photo) came out of the sheath really quickly and without any help.
Any tips on parents for this hybrid?

Thanks

It's beautiful, Pepe. Congratulations on getting it to bloom! I really like the deep yellow with the contrasting colour in the throat. It looks a lot like Gold Digger too. Maybe a differenc clone from Chef's plant. Irma might recognize this one for you.