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Thread: Cattaleya species - opinions please

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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Saratoga Co. New York
    Posts
    6,922

    Default Cattaleya species - opinions please

    I was browsing Cattleya species today and thought, If I could only keep one Cattleya Orchid species, what would it be? I love Cattleya walkeriana and could do a collection around just this one species with it's varieties. I thought getting some opinions would be fun.

    If you could just grow one Cattleya species what would it be and why?

    Here is a list of Cattleya species for you to chose from
    Cattleya aclandiae
    Cattleya amethystoglossa
    Cattleya araguaiensis
    Cattleya aurantiaca
    Cattleya aurea
    Cattleya bicolor
    Cattleya bowringiana
    Cattleya deckeri
    Cattleya dolosa
    Cattleya dormaniana
    Cattleya dowiana
    Cattleya eldorado
    Cattleya elongata
    Cattleya forbesii
    Cattleya gaskelliana
    Cattleya granulosa
    Cattleya guttata
    Cattleya harrisoniana
    Cattleya intermedia
    Cattleya iricolor
    Cattleya jenmanii
    Cattleya kerrii
    Cattleya labiata
    Cattleya lawrenceana
    Cattleya leopoldii
    Cattleya loddigesii
    Cattleya lueddemanniana
    Cattleya luteola
    Cattleya maxima
    Cattleya mendelii
    Cattleya mooreana
    Cattleya mossiae
    Cattleya nobilior
    Cattleya patinii
    Cattleya percivilliana
    Cattleya porphyroglossa
    Cattleya quadricolor
    Cattleya rex
    Cattleya schilleriana
    Cattleya schofieldiana
    Cattleya schroederae
    Cattleya skinneri
    Cattleya tenuis
    Cattleya trianae
    Cattleya velutina
    Cattleya violacea
    Cattleya walkeriana
    Cattleya warneri
    Cattleya warscewiczii

  2. #2
    Real Name
    Jeff Tucker
    My Grow Area
    Porch/Patio.
    Favorite Orchid(s)
    Cattleyas, Phalaenopsis, Vanda
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
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    Male
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    Plantation, Florida
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    2,446
    Member's Country Flag

    Default

    Many growers have success with Cattleya walkeriana but the flowers would always fail to mature on the two plants I had. After several years I finally gave up on them. Cattleya violacea is also very tricky to bloom. I would also stay away from Cattleya amethystoglossa which needs to get quite large before it will bloom and the blooms don't last very long. Cattleya intermedia, Cattleya loddigesii, Cattleya jenmanii, Cattleya percivaliana and Cattleya maxima have all been easy for me to grow. Cattleya lueddemanniana, Cattleya trianae and Cattleya mossiae have beautiful traditional type blooms but I've never grown any of them. I don't think they're difficult though. Good luck with choosing just one.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Saratoga Co. New York
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    6,922

    Default

    Thanks Jeff but I actually was asking that question of our members to see which one they would grow if they only could grow one species. I have 4 or 5 walkers. They do well for me & are not big plants.

    If you could just grow one Cattleya species what would it be and why?

  4. #4
    Real Name
    Leaf Mite
    My Grow Area
    Under Lights
    Favorite Orchid(s)
    anything fragrant, miniatures
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Ohio
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    244
    Member's Country Flag

    Default

    I am guessing I would go with the aclandiae. I love the size and the fragrance.
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  5. #5
    Real Name
    Jim
    My Grow Area
    Sunroom
    Favorite Orchid(s)
    Cattleya, Encyclia
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
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    Male
    Location
    Chicago, Illinois
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    Member's Country Flag

    Default

    Tough for me to pick. The Cattleya species that seem to thrive the best in my sunroom are labiata, percivaliana, lueddemanniana, trianae and skinneri. But I don't have a favorite at the present time.

    labiata - grows extremely well for me, but my mature plant wants to go through a third growing cycle in the fall which seems to diminish the flower count. I have a couple of near blooming size plants that seem to have a more normal growth cycle so I hoping the flower count is higher on them.

    percivaliana - easiest cattleya I have to grow. My growing conditions are a warm summer with cool winter which seems to be perfect for this plant. The drawback to this plant is it has only one growth cycle per year, but it does send out several leads in the cycle. Beautiful flowers, but my plants seem to have a wet latex paint scent (that is tolerable to me).

    lueddemanniana - even with my cool winter conditions, the plants I have do well. Two growths per year, and blooms in the spring. However, the flower count is not high, but the flowers are extremely fragrant.

    trianae - grows well for me, with two growth cycles per year. So far I have not been able to get flowers to fully develop. The buds fill the sheath but then die. The best I can tell this may be due to the sudden cooler temperatures in my sunroom from fall to winter. I will keep trying!

    skinneri - again grows well. The drawback is the flowers do not last long and have no scent.

  6. #6
    My Grow Area
    Outside 24/7.
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    Apr 2008
    Location
    Houston, Texas
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    Default

    Geez, Ron, how can I only pick one? It's harder than picking your favorite kid...

    When it comes to orchid purchasing, I am as compulsive as it gets, often not realize what I really bought until I got home.

  7. #7
    Real Name
    Roy Lee
    My Grow Area
    Greenhouse
    Favorite Orchid(s)
    Cattleya, Ascda, Vanda, Paphs.
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Victoria, Australia
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    3,171
    Member's Country Flag

    Default

    Ron, you pose an interesting question. I suppose it depends on your choice on color & flower count per spike.
    Stretching my personal likes & dislikes, C. guttata/leopoldii/tigrina would be my choice. Flower colors vary greatly & they have a wonderful head of flowers on a mature plant. They do grow tall which is a possible downside.

    BTW, C. Dolosa is a natural hybrid, not a species.

  8. #8
    My Grow Area
    Porch/Patio.
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    Vanda
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    Default

    so we can only choose one... seems real hard, but judging by the size of species catts, who has room for a second in real life? i've only had one real cattleya, a huge bowringiana. the first time it flowered i got rid of it because the flowers were pink. and it was a huge honker of a plant. cut it into 4 huge plants and gave it away. all i have now is a lc trick or treat, and it's small. beautiful orange flowers... and i have a lc canhamiana seedling. but if i had to get another cattleya species, i'd go with velutina... it's spotty, red & orange are my colors, and fragrant, plus i can keep it outside. or maybe a deep red leopoldii.

  9. #9
    Real Name
    Amey Bhide
    My Grow Area
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    Cattleya alliance
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    Jul 2009
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    Pune, India
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    Default

    No second thoughts, in such a scenario (god forbid hehe) I would definitely go for Cattleya labiata, just this one species has so many color and pattern forms that it could make a big colorful collection. My real choice though would be Cattleya purpurata (earlier Laelia) as it comes in a much greater variety and a much better flower count, but I do not see it mentioned in the list above.

  10. #10
    Real Name
    ed
    My Grow Area
    Outside 24/7
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    vanda,
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    Jul 2012
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    south florida
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    Default

    Cattleya aclandiae

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