Blooming Process of Cattleya?

[Sconnie]

Hi there,
I'm wondering if someone can explain the blooming process of a Cattleya for me...meaning, when it's in Sheath, do the buds grow within that sheath and emerge, or does the sheath die back and new blooms come from the dried, brown sheath? Also, what's the time ESTIMATE for a Cattleya in sheath to producing blooms?
Thanks!
Sconnie

[kmarch]

A cattleya can bloom in several different ways:

1) When the new leaf (leaves) of a new growth open there may be a sheath inside. The buds form inside the green sheath until they are too big and the sheath splits and the buds come out.

2) Same as above but the sheaths dry up and turn brown with the buds waiting to grow and emerge for one or several years.

3) Same as #1 above but when the new leaves open, there is no sheath and the new buds are already out and forming.

The length of time this takes varies greatly. I have a cattleya hybrid that reliably flowers every 6 months. It takes about 8-10 weeks (which to mee seems on the fast side) for the flowers to go from small buds in sheath to open flowers. But as I have mentioned in #2 above, sometimes the buds won't develop for a year or more.

[beelady]

Thanks for asking that question.I was wondering the same thing because I recently bought a cattleya hybrid that has a sheath with nothing in it. Didn't know if it would do anything since my others have always had buds apparent right away.

[exasperatus2002]

heres a link to my other thread. the first photos are of a Cattleya emerging from sheath.

[jerrymeola]

A few more things about Cattleya sheaths.

A Cattleya can form a sheath and it can dry and whither without ever forming a bud. This is very common on young plants too young to support a flower. It can happen also on mature plants that are stressed from lack of water or food, although, this is not common. It can easily happen on plant divisions, so if you buy a bare root division that is in sheath, you should realize it may not flower the same year.

The speed can also be slowed by lack of water although the shortage of water has to be extreme.

The time in sheath can also be genetic. Some Cattleya form their sheats as much as 6 months before their flowering season. Blc George King is one that develops sheaths in early summer but blooming is Dec-Feb. Others like Blc Golden Tang flower 3 or 4 times a year.

So the sheaths on George King take 6-8 months and the Golden Tang usually does not produce a sheath but flowers every 3-4 months.

After the first two flowers you will begin to know your plant.

[kid a]

I have question about repoting catt. my Slc. mem Alvin Beggman Poem is growing over the edges and is jam packed full in it's plastic pot, it is bulging the sides out. It has 5 or 6 sheaths on it now should I go ahead and repot it? I can't even tell what kind of media it is in. It makes me nervous but I'm afraid to disturb it with all those sheaths on it.

[Orchidflowerchild]

Originally Posted by kid a

I have question about repoting catt. my Slc. mem Alvin Beggman Poem is growing over the edges and is jam packed full in it's plastic pot, it is bulging the sides out. It has 5 or 6 sheaths on it now should I go ahead and repot it? I can't even tell what kind of media it is in. It makes me nervous but I'm afraid to disturb it with all those sheaths on it.

Is it possible to cut the pot off without disturbing the roots? They won't stick to the plastic, so if you can jus cut the pot off, you can probably check the roots and possibly tease off some old media, then slide it into a new pot with new media. At least you'll know the root quality. If it does have root rot, you'd do better to save the whole plant for later flowering than save this flowering and endanger the plant.

-Cj

[Orchidflowerchild]

My Lc. Schilleriana has sheaths by July, usually, and blooms the next april. I hear from the person I from whom I aquired my Guarianthe Guatemalensis that it will flower as soon as the growths finish, which seems a bit late, but it's been an odd year.

*cough* Wow, run-on sentence, oy vey!

-Cj

[JLu]

OFC,

Picture taken 11/14/07 12:47:41.16 EST

[jerrymeola]

Kid A

You have a couple of issues.

That is a great number of sheats and you may have an outstanding bloom. Part of it is because you let it go so long without a re-pot.

This is also the problem since re-potting a greatly overgrown Cattleya is a guessing game.

You can move it to a larger pot and leave the entire root ball as is. This works well many times and can give good results for a couple of years.

I find that this technique eventually causes the middle of the plant to die while new growth goes around the outside. At that point the best solution is to divide the plant and start from smaller pieces. This is not fast and can take a couple of years.

You can try to remove the medium and separate the roots, but often this is impossible and it can easily disturb the flowering.

I would leave it until the flowers bloom. It should be great. Then when you see new roots starting re-pot the plant. Try to remove the old medium and loosen the roots and if you can not loosen the roots, then decide if you want to leave the roots and just move it to a larger pot or if you want to divide it now.

Like I said the issue is not serious now and you have a couple of years before you may have to divide it. I had one last 6 years this way, that my wife did not want to divide. Six years was too long, we lost it.

[Yiu Lin]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm not sure if my catts are in spike/ have a sheath, or just having 2 leaves.
The first pic is of my Blc pink diamond, where I can see a green leaf/ sheath inside the outer leaf. It's been growing pretty fast. 2 weeks ago, it was just a small growth and within a week, it had the leaf emerging. This gives me hope!

The second is a noid catt, that I got from the discount shelf. Only when I examined it later, I found that it has a purplish "thing" coming from one of the leaves. I hoped it was a sheath, but since I got it 2 weeks ago, nothing has happened.

Perhaps the change in environment has caused the first catt to grow faster, while the 2nd catt to go on hold.

Ah well, time will tell, and I'm waiting anxiously!

[Sconnie]

Thank you guys for all the info! I really appreciate it!

[kid a]

Thanks guys too. I posted anew thread about it before I saw your replies. It is a pretty large plant and me thinks I may have to divide it soon. :-(