Which Catt is better and why?

[chrono]

I am torn between getting a Lc. Memorial Robert Straight Blue(s) and Blue Hawaii. I hear that it is very hard to grow and flower though. Is the new hybrid "Blue" any easier to grow and flower?

[jerrymeola]

I refuse to buy anymore Blues. They come tiny and even in a commercial greenhouse I have been unable to keep them. I still have about 15 that I refuse to stick on anyone.

Blue Hawaii is out of production I think and you will find the colors on these 'clones' have a tendency to break. I think it has been cloned too often from the same lines.

I bought a Robert Strait 'Lakeland' this week in bud. No one wanted it with two large flowers when it was marked down to $18 at the GreenThumb festival this weekend. It looks just like Blues but it is not as impressive as the photos.

This is the actual plant from the show.



What is it you like about the plant, and I will try to make alternate suggestions that will not give you as much problems.

[chrono]

I like the shape, pretty marking (purple lip), petal shape, fragrance and heavy flower.

I am open to suggestions.

[kmarch]

Memoria Robert Straight (not Memorial) is a good cross, easy to grow as any other mini catt and easy to find. Blur Hawaii is also nice but probabl harder to find. Also, if you like blues, try the blue make of Mini Purple.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I have 2 M. Robert Straight 'Blues'. Still waiting for flowering, after the fusarium and a very bad case of sunburn sent them both to infant hood (bought the second one after sunburning the first). When I bought the first I asked the seller if he guaranteed the plant to be virus free. He immediately told me to put the plant back on the table. ??? Well, after the sunburn and fusarium, it was impossible to test either plant for virus. Anyone out there have any info on the possibility that 'Blues' may have been virused before cloning or any negative tests on 'Blues'? I have wondered why the plant was so rarely offered. I pried open a flower from the dead and sunburned lead that was about to bloom, and the color was fantastic. I much prefer the shape of 'Blues' over that of 'Blue Hawaii'. At least one of these plants should be blooming within another year.

[jerrymeola]

Lc Mem Robert Strait is a cross of C walkeriana and Lc Wayndora. Every cross of those two plants is Lc Mem Robert Strait.

The Color varieties can be anything the grower wants to use. If I cross the two today I can sell them as Lc Mem Robert Strait 'OrchidGeeks' or anything I want.

Blue Hawaii is an awarded plant given a JC/AOS in 1998. No one can use that award unless the plants are a clone of the original awarded plant. The award was given to Canaima Orchids in Caracas Venezuela, which may explain its lack of current availability. It was everywhere 5-6 years ago.

'Blues' is a remake by Carmela Orchids in Hawaii about 4 years ago. They bragged everyone had 'Blue Hawaii' but they had the better color 'Blues'. I bought 25 and lost them all. I later got 15 from a local nursery (at two inch pots) who had gotten them from him and they are the ones that are struggling. Carmela offered the seedlings but have never offered the plants in larger sizes, making me guess that production was not good for them either.


I am not sure where 'Lakeland' is produced but at least I can buy them in bloom. The flower is a little smaller and not as well formed. Neither Lakeland nor Blues has ever been awarded.

A Robert Strait that is easy to grow is Lc Mem Robert Strait 'Carmela' but all the blue is replaced by maroon.

The first photo is directly from Carmela and the second is the same plant a year later. Colors on Cattleya often are subdued the first flowering.





I have to disagree with kmarch about Mini Purple 'Blues' This is another Carmela orchid which has done badly for me. I need to remark that I buy about 600 plants a month in season from Carmela and 99% are trouble free. We are only talking a few hard ones here.

If you like blue, I think the best blue is C duprena. If you like the flaring there are lots of choices. One of my favorites in blue is Blc Winnie Makaea (L purpurata x Mickey's Freckles), which seems to be available this summer. They appear to be first flowering based on the size of the plants.



If you can live without the flaring a cross of Robert Strait and B Little Stars is an easy to grow hybrid with the added feature that the petals and septals open green and change to pure white after 5-7 days.



There are many Robert Strait and Bassovola hybrids that are pretty and very easy to grow but most are smaller flowers closer to Bassovola in shape

A beautiful blue is Lc LoveKnot 'Carmela's Blue' which is a true miniature only 3 inches high with 3 inch flowers. Not especially easy to grow or flower because of its tiny roots. The plant always seems to need water. However it is very fragrant and impressive in flower.



I enjoyed comparing these blue orchids. I sometimes think that the color blue is the problem.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Lc. Wayndora seems to have produced some great plants. I had a Wayndora cross seedling that was out of this world, and lost it to virus. A stupid mistake made years ago. I'd love to get a Wayndora 'Lea' if anyone ever comes across such a thing, and try a remake of my favorite gross.

[kmarch]

I should have mentioned that I have a Laelia dayana var coerulea. It grows extremely well for me and has bloomed 3 times since I bought it. This year it must have reached that critical mass I sometimes talk about because it gave me 3 spikes with a total of 5 flowers. If you like species, consider this one.