A Cattelya story and help needed

[Tarad]

Hello all,

Ok admittedly I am NOT a Cattleya person only because they were my first orchid and I did not do well in Wisconsin without lighting nor a GH. A few months before I moved I gave away my last Catt. that I kept hopng to get it to bloom th eonly part of the name I remember is PANDA. Ok I told the newowner it would need extra lighting and that it was never going to bloom just not enough light and it is tooo freakin cold here in wisconsin. Ok one year later, yesterday she calls me in distress to tell me it is growing out of its pot with roots all over shootin through the bottom of the pot and over, it's shootin out babies, and oh by the way her daughter won first place with it in 4-h with its BLOOMS!!!LOL. Well I am certain most of the folks in that 4-h event had never seen an orchid like that close up before so of course she would win! I remember paying quite a bit for it and also at that time she bought a phal from me, the baby catt was a freebie lol. I told her at the time to send the Catt to Texas and keep the phal here, well she did the opposite forgetting which one should stay here.
ANYWAY she has this Catt in a VERY COLD southern window wind blowin in and no orchid chance in heck. Cold farm house heated with a wood stove.
However she lady can grow anything without even trying. So now she needs advice I certainly cant give her nor recommend lol due to the normal reasons.
Should she repot this catt? I told her is was no emergency and I would find out. I will try to get pics to you all as she does not have a camera, we need to see this miracle Catt!

[Tarad]

Sorry all I have afeature on my laptop that wont let me correct typos without erasing everything in the way and without my techie daughter hear I have been throwing out a mess like the last post hope you can read it!

[patticake]

You're too funny. That sounds like your friend is doing ok with it. Catts can take cooler temps than phals. They still don't like it cold, but if it's in a southern exposure, that helps. Mine are in a southern window, and it gets pretty cold near my windows, too. As far as the re-potting goes, I repot if it's really climbing out. I would wait until she sees signs of new growth in the root department. That way the roots can grow into the new medium without damage. I hope you're doing ok!

[LouisW]

Catts are surviving machines they might as well be made of metal!

As far as advice goes im right behind Patti.

[Tarad]

Wha wha what??? Catts take colder climate than phals??? HUh??? OH CRAP I gave my Catts ALLL away because they would not bloom for me. I had them in South window....I had them in teh coldest house in WIsconsin too...I did not feed fertilzer. The humidity level was 20 in my house too. (without my upping efforts)I did not neglect it though hmmmm lol. Ok this lady knows nothng about orchids and SHE GOT THE THING TO GO OUT OF ITS MIND AND BLOOM. IT AINT FAIR I TELL YA. PEOPLE I gave away my KOKO HEAD CATT and my collection as I was constanty told they needed extra lighting to bloom and flourish. I went to see my Kokohead it is in a green house throwing off inch inch blooms. Sigh ok. I am now in a little apartment West window, adn no job so I cant buy any more Catts anyway My Phals are trying so hard ot stay with me AND THEY WILL DANG IT. OK I will trek off into the forest or deep north woodland wherever it is she lives and take a look at this Catt myself. I have not received an email from her as she was going to go the the neighbors, to make that happen and ya know how far apart the country folk live LOL. Just for the record this lady is relation. Her Grandma back in teh 60's had the most beautiful display of orchids here in Wisconsin that I have ever seen anywhere, they are Hawiian in decent. So Grandmas memory lives on in her, CUZ THAT IS THE ONLY REASON THAT ORCHID IS STILL KICKIN LOL.

[11Orchid126]

I'll bet my bottom dollar she puts that cat outside for the summer.

[Tarad]

THe only time the Catt has been outside is when she entered it into the 4-h event.

[dounoharm]

she must have really green thumbs, lol....what a story!

[Tarad]

I know right? Cant wait to get pics ot the catt

[11Orchid126]

Agree with Patticake, though. Don't repot until you see signs of new growth on the roots. They should have green tips. Often when you repot a catt at the wrong time they can sulk for months and months. But of course this lady plant whisperer is a miracle worker and the plant wouldn't dare sulk for her!

[Tarad]

Green tips green tips must see green tips, got it, I will be goin in for a look see soon if I dont hear from her, but jsut found out NO ONE in this freakin cold darn town is carrying Schultz bark ARGH I hope we dont have to repot.

[jerrymeola]

I grow my cats and actually all my orchids down to 32 degrees. They were 39 yesterday. They are used to it. Just do not try to move it from a warm environment to the cold.

I lost almost nothing to cold and my friends with heated greenhouse were losing hundreds in the recent cold (down to 23 here).

While Cattleya like 3500 foot candles of light they will adapt to less and flower at lower levels. Actually we are growing and flowering our Cattleya at about 2000-2500 foot candles. It makes for better looking leaves and they grow faster.

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by jerrymeola

I grow my cats and actually all my orchids down to 32 degrees. They were 39 yesterday.

Let's be clear about something here, while some cattleyas might tolerate the occasional dip into cold temperatures, as Jerry's seem to have done, it is absolutely not recommended that cattleyas (and a lot of other commonly grown orchids) be grown in these freezing and near freezing temperatures. The recommended temperature ranges for cattleyas are intermediate temps, specifically with night time lows in the 55-65F (about 12-18C) range. This is a recommended range that should help a grower achieve good (optimal?) results. It might be reassuring to know that cattleyas may survive a cold snap like this (we typically worry too much about our orchids don't we) but by no means should this be taken as the generally recommended temps at which cattleyas should be grown.

There are exceptions. It is true that some cattleyas (especially hybrids made with C. coccinea) prefer temps a little cooler; Andy of Andy's Orchids grows his coccineas in his cool house with night time temps in the 50-55F (10-13C) range and I have a coccinea hybrid that I grow outside here in winter, down to about 45-50F (8-10C) but this is a long way from freezing and is certainly an exception to the rule. Some cattleya species even experience an occasional (albeit short-lived) snow, but not for an extended period of time and again this is an exception to the rule and not generally recommended for cultivation.

[Tarad]

THanks Kevin I now dont think I am goin crazy nor feeling bad for rehoming my Catts taht wuold never bloom lol