Help with a Cattleya

[nenella]

Hi everyone !
after reading & reading... I've decided to go for it and ask you experts !
For info, I live on the atlantic coast of France, have about 30 phals (been growing them for 6 years in a house and they all flower roughly every 9 months...and have had my share of ' downs'.. as I frequently change location.. but have always managed to keep them all alive & haven't lost any...
I decided it was time to go for a Cattleya : BLC Eagle Eye 'All Victory' which is a hybrid cross : BLC Meditation Kings Ransom x Madelaine White Eagle. I bought it on E Bay from Spain - it was shipped bare root - it's a 'large one' as 14" high and had/has 6 pseudobulbs on it out of which only one had not flowered & infact had a sheath on it.. it flowered (fabulous fragrant large white flower with a deep yellow nearly orange centre) and the flower lasted 5 weeks before becoming brown and wilting...
My question is..apart from new roots it does not seem to be coming out with any new growth... it's planted in medium bark (in a 6 " transparent plastic pot : so I can tell when its "dry" and therefore don't over or underwater...I hope!)
Maybe I'm just being impatient.. but cant wait for new growth so that then I'll have another flower or flowers next time round (it did contain 2 buds in the sheath but when it finally opened one had not matured...I suppose it was the trauma and journey etc...) I use 'orchid ' (can't seem to find all the specialised ones I have read about in Forums..)fertiliser on it every 2 weeks - the bottle says NPK 5.6.7.. I also use rain water as the water here is extremely hard.
I hope someone can give me a few tips...as seem to find lots and lots of info on phaleanopsis but alot less on cattleyas!
thank you in advance

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Sounds like you are in good shape with the plant. Catts (Cattleya family, BLC, LC, etc are often called that) generally have some period of time when they seem to do nothing, but are often producing roots during part of this down time. Most Catts only bloom once a year, and since it only takes a few months to mature a new growth, that leaves a lot of time for no growth. The interesting thing about the bloom cycle is that sometimes the Catts bloom as soon as the growth matures, and some times they bloom after the long dormant period and just before they start their next new growth. This is also true for rooting from the new growth, sometimes they start a flush of new roots from the new growth before it is a third grown, and sometimes the flush of roots from the latest growth occurs just before the next new growth starts. This is the kind of thing you want to take note of, because you never want to repot a Catt, and most other sympodial orchids, unless you are very near the stage where the new growth is throwing out a flush of new roots. Phals, by the way, are monopodials, they grow straight up, and don't have a yearly sideways growth.

Catts need a goodly amount more light than Phals. You will probably want to see a shadow when you put your hand between the light and the plant. Reflected light isn't enough, and you will need some shading, as full sun will usually burn the leaves. Filmy curtains and/or slat blinds that can be adjusted might work. Had a friend that had a roller shade made from shadecloth. One rule of thumb when growing sympodials like Catts, is that you should note how large each growth is while you are growing the plant. The first year it may be smaller than the growths that grew in a greenhouse, and that is OK, because the plant has to adapt to your conditions, which probably won't be optimum. But in the succeeding years, the growths should not continue to get smaller each time, as this means you don't have the right conditions and the plant will eventually expire. Good luck,

[nenella]

Thank you very much Cynthia !
The info you have given me is extremely precious !
I didn't know that once the growth starts it grows quickly...that's really good to hear ! also, I will take note of the size of the pseudobulbs..in fact the 'last one' which flowered is slightly thinner than the older ones..but I think it's getting fatter..?
Should I keep feeding or give it a rest ?
thank you again

[Aniko]

Cynthia, I'm also grateful for all these small but important details on Catt's habits. My (first!) Catt's bloom is wilting now, it started 2 new roots unfortunately out of the pot.
The plant has 9 pseudo bulbs, the last one bloomed, and now I can see a little bud at the base of the 7th growth.I would expect this to happen on the 9th. It means that the rhizome starts a new ramification ?
Aniko.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Nenella, I have too many orchids to hold back on feeding for some, but I usually fertilize much less in winter, but then again, I must say that I have never been a very heavy fertilizing person. Fact is that orchids don't really need a lot of fertilizer. But, if you have been fertilizing very regularly, you can probably take a rest from the process if the plant is not growing. However, sometimes when they are not growing above the mix, they are producing roots inside the mix, so an occasional fertilizing probably is good.

Aniko, if your plant has nine pseudobulbs in a row, with no side branches, that is very unusual. The growth from the 7th bulb, along with one from the 9th, will help to fill your pot nicely, and the next time you repot, I would take off a lot of those old backbulbs. I like to see 3 mature bulbs for ever new growth, but in this case, I think I would leave numbers 9,8,7,6 and 5, so that there are three bulbs behind that new growth from #7, unless some of the bulbs are substandard sized. The 4 bulbs (or 3) you take off at the back end will probably start a new plant if kept from drying/shrivelling too much, maybe sphag & bag it until it starts a new growth and a bit of root activity from that new growth. I don't expect those backbulbs to have roots, but if any of them do, S&B won't be necessary, just pot up.

[Aniko]

So, do you mean that I can expect one more new growth wen the bloom is over?
What surprises me is that non of the 8 previous pseudo-bulbs bloomed. Each of them has a leaf and an eye looking bud in it. Actually, as I remember, the vendor told me that I can expect more blooms.
Thanks ,Cynthia, when the time it comes, I'm going to follow your advise.
Aniko.

[nenella]

For Info : this cattleya did finally put out a new growth ( unfortunatley grew facing the opposite direction ! I've learn't the lesson ! won't happen again! - I hadn't read Cynthia's 'tips' on this ...)
It is now going to flower in the next week or so with 2 blooms ! (I can see it 'originally' had 3 !) & I'm very happy as last year had 2 buds originally and one developped and flowered, this year... I'ts put out a new growth on which It had 3 & two have developped !!!!! And YES this new growth is bigger & thicker than the previous! I Had to share this developpment ! & can't wait for the wonderful scent !

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

As a beginner with Catts, you are doing splendidly. Can't say that I have had such great success with plants adapting to my greenhouse from the bareroot condition. What ever you are doing, keep it up.

[san_ghosh01]

I have few Catleya in my collection which are now full with its bloom. The plants have become very big and that is why I want to know that can I break the plant and re pot them after the bloom. Any suggestion about the method of re potting will be highly appreciated.