tiny cattleya?

[charleyismydog]

I just got a Sophrolaeliocattleya Love Castle. It came in a tiny plastic pot (maybe 2 inches or a little less). It has just three pseudobulbs maybe an inch and a half high each but the leaves are about four inches long. I don't know anything about the species. Is it a miniature or does the fact that it is this tiny size mean that it is a seedling and I need to treat it like one?

Do the flower spikes come from the base because two of them have little brown nubs coming out of the base and they look like spikes to me, but I know nothing about cattleyas.

Please advise!! I'm excited about this little one.

[prisana]

charleyismydog, I think you have a seedling. The flower spikes will be coming out of the sheaths, in the crown of the plant. The little brown nubs are probably new roots that didn't get a chance to grow properly or they may be new growths, both are usually green, with roots being green at the tip.

If the plant isn't in dire need of repotting because the medium is old, you can leave it in the old pot until you see new roots growing about an inch, then repot with fine bark mix. Hope this helps, but if you have more questions, please don't hesitate to ask..we can all pitch in and help

[charleyismydog]

Thanks Prisana. I suspected it was a seedling. It doesn't seem like the brown things are roots. They are about four times as thick as the one nice new root that is coming out. They look kind of bud-shaped, with multiple layers. They are brownish with pointy tips that are greenish. Maybe they're new growth?

I don't know a thing about seedlings. Do I need to water them more/less often? Is the windowsill ok?

I am nervous about the pot that it is in. The moss looks kind of soggy and a lot of the roots look not so healthy (mushy with black spots). Also, the roots reach all the way down to the hole in the bottom of the pot. Does that seem ok?

[chefatplay]

charlieismydog, I can't help you since I don't "do" catts, but I want to welcome you here. We have a lot of fun and learn at the same time. You made the right move. Someone will help you.

[prisana]

Looks like repotting is in order then. If the plant isn't too big for the pot, you can use the old one for now, just scrub it good and if you have bleach, soak the pot in bleach solution at 1/10 ratio for about 30 mins. If you have packing peanuts, break the peanuts up ( 1 peanut is enough for your pot size ) and lay them in the bottom, or use pieces of broken clay pot ( cleaned ) that's so the roots don't sit in the water at the bottom of the pot and rot.

Soak the new bark mix , especially made for orchids ( you can get it at most garden centers ) you can soak the mix over night before you want to repot. Position the plant with the oldest (smallest) growth against the pot and fill the pot with the mix. The rhizome should be just slightly burried in the mix and fill the mix up to about a half an inch from the top. Keep it out of strong light, don't water it at all for a couple of weeks, misting is ok, but only lightly. After you see new roots growing then you can proceed with the regular watering .

You have a hybrid plant, not a species. East or west windowsill is good ( west is hotter ) but make sure it's not getting direct sun for now. Seedlings need to be more constantly moist unlike mature catts which need to be dried out before more watering is given. Hope I got everything down..

[fred]

http://www.orchidgeeks.com/forum/gen...home-page.html

http://www.aos.org/aos/uploadedfiles...recattleya.pdf

here are 2 links for you on Catt culture

you will find alot of useful information

this link will show you what the minis look like
http://www.orchidgeeks.com/forum/gen...-seedling.html

[kmarch]

Good job prisana I would only add one thing.

Because you have a seedling, do not use a regular orchid mix used for mature Cattleyas. Use seedling bark mix which contains the same componenets but in much cmaller pieces. Seedling bark pieces are only about 1/2cm.

[charleyismydog]

Thanks so much. That is all so helpful. Silly, me. I did forget to mention one thing. It looks like it has flowered before. There is the remnants of a spike and sheath coming out of the top of one of the leaves. Does it have to have matured to flower? Does that mean it has come of age recently?

[prisana]

I have some catt seedlings that would have sheaths but no flowers, they'll have to mature somewhat. A lot of hybrid catts reach blooming age pretty fast these days, it's amazing. I've seen seedlings that had bloomed in a 2" pot before, not the same quality flowers a bigger plant of the same type would produce, tho. You never know what your catt has in store for you , you might even see a flower in the next bloom season. Can you post a pic of the old spike so I can have a peek ?

[charleyismydog]

Yes. I will take a pic and post later today. Thanks for everyone's help!

[charleyismydog]

Sorry it took me so long. Here is a photo. What do you think? Does it look like it has flowered before?
Thanks!

[fred]

I just thought this pic might help you with your question a bit better

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Looks like a full grown miniature Cattley hybrid to me. Prisana, I know you like to sterilize your pots when you reuse them for the same plant. I consider that unnecessary, but that's OK. What I worry about tho is the recommendation to put cleaned broken clay pot shareds in the bottom of the pot. This is going the other way completely, as the only way to reuse used clay pot shards is to 'sterilize' the shards, like in the oven at 400F for 2 hours, or boiling them, not sure that a soak in 10% bleach is good enough, ala Critter Creeks recomendations on sterilizing clay pots. Well, I think you get the idea that I don't think the clay shard thing is a good idea. Peanuts are fine as long as they are the white ones. Some of the other colored ones have some strange chemicals in them. Personally, I think that such a small pot as needed by this plant doesn't really need added ventilation in the bottom of the pot.

[charleyismydog]

Thanks Cynthia. Someone else mentioned white peanuts to me too. I guess I'll try that. I am excited to see what this one will look like. Do Catts only bloom once a year or multiple times?

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Catts bloom on each maturing new growth. Most standard Cattleyas only bloom once a year. I've heard that some miniatures will produce 2 growths in succession each year and therefore bloom twice a year, but this does not seem to be all that common, as I have not noticed that in my plants. But I have to qualify that by saying that I have so many plants that I just might not notice. Looks like you will have a wait at any rate as I don't see any new growth starting yet, so you are pretty far from the next blooming.

If you have not already repotted the plant yet, I would definitely wait. You should only repot Catts when the newest growth is just starting to produce its first flush of roots. If that growth with the old flower stem already has roots that are long, then the opportunity for repotting has past, and you want to wait for the next new growth.

[jerrymeola]

Your plant has flowered before and it looks like it may be a division of a larger plant.

I say this since there are not the usual number of smaller pseudobulbs from prior years.

Slc hybrids are more temperamental than Blc hybrids so keep an eye on it. I find that mine do better with higher quantities of water than I would have used with general Cattleya.

These plants I call semi-miniatures since true miniature usually refer to plants that never get bigger than 3-4 inches. Many of the newer hybrids can flower several times a year. I have dozens that fall into that class, but they often will not if they do not have a long growing season and the best of conditions.

[charleyismydog]

Thanks Cynthia and Jerry. Actually there are two tiny new growths at the base, one of which has a root a little less than 1/2 inch long so I did go ahead and repot. Jerry, it's good to hear they like water since I usually have a hard time holding out and not watering for longer periods. I do great with my Oncidium and Den. because they like water, but I have a harder time with my Phal.