I should know, but! Sophrocattleya care

[Stargazer997]

It's new, and I realize it's a mix, but can someone please suggest overall culture care. I have a south and an east window. That's all!
Watering, fertilizing?

That's it for now, THANKS!!
StarGazer

[kmarch]

Hi Stargazer,

There is no such thing as general orchid culture. The plants are to diverse and cultural requirements too varied to make such a suggestion. For example when it comes to watering there are some orchids that need to be watered nearly every day and some that go as much as 8 months without so much as a drop.

But here's what we can do: We can figure out what your conditions are then choose plants that like those conditions.

You live in Minnesota and have a south and an east wndow. This is a good start. You have medium to high light conditions. Now we need to find out the following:
1) What rooms are these windows in? (This will tell us how much humidity yourlants will get naturally)
2) What are the summer high and low and winter high and low temps in these rooms? (This will tell us what will do best for you: warm, intermediate, or cool growing plants)
3) How busy are you/how full is your schedule? This will tell us how much attention you can devote to things like watering and repotting.

When we get this info we can make all sorts of good recommendations for what kind of plants will do well for you.

Cheers

[kmarch]

Hmmm....I see I didn't pay very good attention to your post and I missed our mentioning the plant is a Sophrocattleya in the title.

Use general Cattleya culture as a starting point. You can find a very good at on the AOS website. I'd put it in the south window as long as it doesn't get too much burning direct light. East is good too and I have bloomed Cattleyas in an east window. Because of the Sophronites in the mix, I have found Sc needs a little more water. If the Soph parent is Soph. coccinea your plant can tolerate temps cooler than a regular Cattleya. Pot in an openmix, probably medium bark, perelite and charcoal is good. Let dry slightly between waterings, in Michigan for me it was about every 7 days. Maybe a little more in summer. There are 3 different ways you could fertilize:
1) high nitrogen when in growth switching to a bloom boost when sheaths appear
2) balanced weak fertilizer year 'round
3) no fertilizer
Whichever works best for you and your plant is what you should to. Don't be afraid to experiment - try one thing one year, a different approach next year. Oh, and always have a bit of air circulation and repot when the plant outgrows the pot or about every 2 years.

[palito]

the only general thing I can say is that plants with Sophronities heritage don't like low humidity and heat. Those slc. mini catts hate being fully dry and will wilt and die easily. Constant moisture is a must.

Since I grow plants outside, and I have extreme heat in the summer, the only way I can grow them is in spagh and still they require daily watering. It's a maintenance pain though but they flower continuously , so it pays the extra effort. I'm sure for indoor growing it must be much easier to keep the appropriate moisture levels.

[Stargazer997]

Thanks palito and Kmarch! I think I was pretty much on target with what you both suggested. Here's hoping!