ideas on the size and color of the bloom , and how to grow babies Catts. faster

[rainynightstarz]

most of my plants are on this table next to the window in our dinning room. i only have 4 orchids( 3 of them are the same type, and are babies, one Phal that is spiking right now) and i have other random house plants of basically the same thing since i divided it cuz it was too big, now i have like 8 pots of this same plant with glossy doted leaves and heart shaped flowers( very easy to grow) and some lucky bamboo stuff and those tree things that have the braided branch.
on my patio there is a rose plant in 14 inch pot that doesn't bloom, only growis leaves because i don't have any garden to plant it
and there is also a cactus, those are hardy plants and don't mind the sun no matter how much if it there is, and i only need to get out water/ and check them once a week since they are soo hardy that its soo hard to kill them (i thought my rose was dead, so i didn't water it for 3 month,then i saw new leaf buds last week, so i started to water it again since it is appearantly still alive)


Diane:
i got the seedling around march of 2005 ( 2 years ago)
when i got it(at least the biggest seedling), it only had 1 pbulb, now its growing its 4th one. is that slow or fast? is there anyway i can make it grow faster? the newer pbulbs are BARELY bigger than the previous ones, is there anything wrong with it?

standard Catts get pretty big, i don't want anything big right cuz because i am going off to college in 1.5 years and i want to have things that are small enough for me to move and put in my dorm.

thanks for your offer , though

I would still like to know about vendors!


talking about Palo Alto.. i have to go there , Gunn high school to take my SAT test this saturday( the worst part of being a Junior in high school, along with the AP classes)

[Piper]

Hi Rainy,

Catts like fertilizer. Do you fert yours regularly? That will certainly encourage growth.

McJulie

[Piper]

You need to enable private messaging, if you want us to send you vendor names. It's forum policy not to mention vendors in public posts.

Julie

[rainynightstarz]

i add a bit of fertilizer to all of them with half watered down solution whenever i water them.
I only drizzle a little bit of the fertilizer and sprinkle a little bit more water to make sure they are not concentrated in one area and brun the roots.
I'm not sure if it's too little , but so far i know its not too much, because the roots are not burnt and roten


and i just enabled my PM

[Diane]

I know of a vendor who sells small growing cats for a reasonable price, I will PM you.

I remember when my high school played Gunn in football. I went to Menlo-Atherton.

I think your catts are growing normally. To get a plant with one pbulb, that is a REAL baby. So I suggest a couple older plants. I have one that I think you might like, if you send me your address I will send it to you.

[smartie2000]

Yes fertilize with a high nitrogen ferilizer for growth because they are heavy feeders. Also check to see if it is most ammoniacal nitrogen, since these act fast in a bark mix. Urea nitrogen is less useful/effective in a bark mix because there are not as many bacteria in bark to break it down to a useful form for the plants. Nitrate nitrogen is also fast acting I believe.

Here's what I have for increasing growth rate by growing media: My favorite vendor always has his cattleyas in sphag moss. I do not know he uses it to increase growth rate, but he uses it and the speeding of growth rate will increase profits, so it's logical. Sphag moss does increase the surface area between he media and roots and I assume it could harbor more beneficial bacteria/fungi than in bark, so it makes sense that it provides more nutrients. Phal producers definitely use sphag moss to increase growth rate, that is for sure. Peat culture is another method used by phal producers to increase growth rate, but repot often (Blooming size plants in a year for a phal). I believe they peat has been used on cattleya too, but not often, and it's a cultural method very particular and new and I do not recommended it for beginners, and it's a strange way to grow orchids for most of us. If you decide to use sphag moss then water less often or you wll suffer root rot. Most of my plants are in bark mix or coconut husks&chunks anyways.

[Diane]

A plant can only grow so fast. Fertlizer helps, but it can easily burn a plant, especially a young one. I suggest that since you are a beginner, you stay away from sphag for your catts. A balanced orchid fertilizer is the best way to grow until you gain some experience. Best bet is to get some mature plants to satisfy your bloom desires!

[rainynightstarz]

i think i'll stay with bark for now, they are pretty easy to control and less likely to get root rot.
I'll go get some mini blooming plants after I am done with SATs. I probably have to call them to check when they'll get new shipment of orchids