cattleya aclandiae

[theovercollector]

My Cattleya aclandiae occasionally loses leaves... They start to yellow and become a little wrinkly and then fall off... I know they don't like to be overwatered, but for a while I was way underwatering. Perhaps they just lose leaves a lot as the new growths appear. Right now two growths' leaves are yellow, one growth is fine and the newest is just maturing... Anyone have any ideas?

[kmarch]

Cat aclandiae isn't a typical catt. They like cooler, wetter conditions than most. I grew one in sphag in a wood basket and it was nearly always moist. I had a terrible time with the bulbs splitting because it was dry. The cycles where I kept it far wetter than I felt comfortable doing were the cycles where it grew the best and did not split. It also likes quite bright light. I had mine in an east window and under lights and none of it was bright enough to make it flower.

[JLu]

I'm going to take my chances and differ from Kevin on this one. C. aclandiae comes from a monsoonal area in the state of Bahia, Brazil. It frequently grows in small trees near the ocean in an area that gets 50 inches of rain a year but nearly all of it in 3 months. It typically grows at elevations less than 400 feet. It grows nearly exposed to full sun and in temperatures frequently between 90 and 100 F. It protects itself by growing in thick bunches. There are no cool areas in northern, Atlantic coastal Brazil.

The plant needs a lot of water in its growing season (April through July in the northern hemisphere), but needs to be dry (with good humidity) in its rest period and high heat is not an issue. The plant's needs are easiest to meet when it is mounted on tree fern or cork. The mount allows frequent watering when needed, but with excellent drainage. It also allows the drier periods to be achieved easily.

Our plant is a small (three pseudobulbs), but healthy one, growing on a tree fern slab. Right now it is watered every day. In the winter it depends on conditions in the GH, but it goes 3-7 days between waterings. I wish I had more experience to share, but I have only had the plant a year and it was a tiny division when I got it. It is growing well and the roots are expanding very well especially right now. Unfortunaely it has not yet bloomed but I still have hopes for this year. IMHO providing the dry rest period is vital to keeping this plant healthy. Most Catts hate wet roots and easily fail due to excess moisture in rest periods, but this one seems very sensitive to too much moisture except when it is growing.

This is one of the few Catts that do not obey any growth-bloom-root or growth-root-bloom model. It presents a new growth and roots and blooms immediately. I've got the growth and roots...where is my bloom?

[Nancy]

Well, I have to say that I didn't get my bloom either. I did get two healthy growths. My plant is in a wooden basket with bark as the medium. The weather here has been very hot for the past few days and I've watered it every morning. This plant likes water but wants to dry out very quickly. It's not normal for it to have a lot of yellow leaves. Find it a situation, either a basket or a mount and I believe it will be much happier and will reward you with many growths and healthy roots. I grow mine warm and I don't believe it should be kept cold either.