brassavola digbyana

I have a hybrid of digbyana. The leaves are much darker than other Catts. Does anybody (Catt-woman?) know if this is typical? Do they require any different culture then other catts?

Debbie,
I don't know about the hybrid, but the folks on ebay I used to buy from are selling digbyana's and here is what they say:

"This orchid is the 'B' in many Blc. orchids, although now it is more accurately called Rhyncholaelia digbyana.

These do well in clay pots, or mounted on cork or grapewood. They like bright morning light and of course like most cattleyas they like to get completely dry between waterings. A mature plant will have large, four- to-six-inch flowers that often are nicely fragrant."

No clue if that is any help, but thought I'd share. Good luck!

I have one or two digby hybrids and the leaf color is not anything unusual..... Who's the other parent?

another digby. yours doesn't seem like a darker green than your Catts?

so your plant is a plain digby, yes? (rhyncholaelia digbyana 'sss' X rhyncholaelia digbyana 'yyy')

ive seen both lighter colored digby seedlings and darker colored digby seedlings. could just mean that the one that you have now has been 'hardened off' or something. seedlings are usually pale green in color (info in your 'catt seedling' post)...i think that nurseries expose seedlings gradually to more light so that they can safely make the transition into our homes (where we are told to grow catts in bright light). this 'hardening off' could cause the seedlings leaves to get darker because more light = darker leaves. i am by no means an expert.

how big a plant are the ones that youre comparing? are they all seedlings? if so, it could be that whoever was growing your digby before you got it was growing it in brighter light.

just thinking out loud.

kewpie, a little niggling point...

actually, it's the reverse.... More light will tend to bleach out the chlorophyll and lighten the leaves. So this part-- is more than likely exactly what was going on, but just substitute the word "dimmer" for "brighter."

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Louis J. Aszod

My Rhyncolaelia is growing under very bright light - substantially brighter than "standard" catt culture. They also can do with more warmth, and like to dry out more thoroughly between waterings. I have my NBS seedling up as close to my HID light as my cattleya aclandiae cross -(which is a higher light cattleya). It is happy very happy up there.

Hope this helps,

John

I grow my digbyanas along with the rest of my Brassavolas...high, high light. The leaves are a different color, somewhat more olive-green than the catts and I give them enough light to provide a slight purple cast.

ok, thanks all, sounds okay.

Yes, digby requires very high light to bloom, which is why many of the plants you see are darker green than your typical cattleya. It just takes a ton of light to get them medium green! digby hybrids probably won't have as much of a light requirement as the parent itself.

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Jason