lc. Secret Love 'Gypsy'

[sciencegal]

I didn't know if I wanted to even try cattleya types since I worried about keeping them warm and bright enough. But the description on this one said "EZ to grow" so I got it about 3 months ago. It was small and had two very tiny new growths, luckily because I did not know that you shouldn't repot it otherwise. A few weeks after I repotted it I knocked it over on the floor so essentially repotted it again.

A short time later it produced a bud which opened about 5 days ago. The description said the flower should be about 3 1/2 to 4". This one is only 2". Is it fully open? Will the blossom get larger as it matures or will I get larger blossoms when the plant matures? It does seem very easy to grow. One of the once tiny new growths is almost mature. I feel kind of good about this one since it made a bud in my care.

The color is beautiful and it has a nice fragrance if I stick my nose right inside.

[78Terp]

Pretty color! Nice shape too.

[Carolla]

It's really cute! I suspect that, as the plant matures, the flowers will get larger. My Catts will vary flower sizes on the same plant at times. I can't say that I have enough experience to tell you why.

[PaphMadMan]

The flower does look pretty much fully open, and unless it has only been open a couple days it probably won't get much bigger. The plant has been through adjustment to a new environment, and it looks like it might not be at a fully mature size yet, so even if everthing is perfect it wouldn't be uncommon for it to have smaller or fewer flowers than it is capable of. On a fully mature plant that has settled in you should be able to expect 2-3 flowers per spike, up to nearly 4".

I don't know what your conditions are, but this Catt and many others should be perfectly happy with night temperatures down to 50F as long as days warm up a few degrees. Is that warmer than you can maintain?

[JDT]

Nicely done

[Sheryl]

Karin, the color is gorgeous!

[chingjervis]

The colors are just gorgeous!

[sciencegal]

Thanks everyone and Kirk who told me what I hope to hear. The temps for the orchids rarely get below 60 at night and daytime temps are around 80 except for the masd's which live right over the evaporative humidifier where it is cooler. I worried that catt types needed 70 or higher all of the time. This little girl seems to just thrive in spite of me.

[orchids^_^]

Usually first blooms for me have smaller flowers, some of them do also get bigger as they open. Awesome flower though

[PaphMadMan]

...The temps for the orchids rarely get below 60 at night and daytime temps are around 80 except for the masd's which live right over the evaporative humidifier where it is cooler. I worried that catt types needed 70 or higher all of the time....

In their native environments the majority of Catts and allied genera can experience one or more months of the year with the average night time temperature below 60F. Many get average night temps down to near 40F in some months. There are some more tender species, but the majority of complex hybrids will have no problem with 60F. If there are particular species or primary hybrids you want to try it might be worth checking what they need, but otherwise go for it.