Cattleya Orchid Plant

Let's look at a bit of history of the Cattleya.

It is fascinating! Cattleya orchids have been named since the early 19th century.

William Cattley was credited with starting some hybrids from orchids sent to him as packing.

The earliest named cattleya was the Cattleya labiata. Since then there has been a mystique about them. From the hobbyist perspective they are probably the most popular plant

The cattleya orchid plants have one of the largest flowers, 5 inches across. They are harder to grow as most of them flower only once per year. And the flowers last only about 2 - 3 weeks.

Although the hobbyists are the ones particularly taken with cattleya plants now. They are becoming popular with non-hobbyist because of the size of the flower. These large flowers are exquisite and unique for corsages. .

For the cattleya orchid plants to become a main-stay of orchids several things are happening today.

 The new hybrids are lasting longer and they are blooming more than once per year.

It has been shown that the cattleya orchids now can be bred for more frequent blooming.

This is important for the non-hobbyist who doesn't want the plant to be just leaves for 49 weeks a year.

Cattleya orchids also will show the flower for more than 2-3 weeks and some of the

hybrids have been shown to have flowers for up to 5 -6 weeks.

Cattleya orchids blooming more than once per year is important and actually has spooned another sub-industry. Some of the nurseries across the country will "board" your cattleya between blooming seasons.

Currently the orchid plant registry in England has not added many hybrids. Over the last 100+ years the numbers have been essentially stagnant. This means these orchid plants have been primarily in the hands of hobbyists and not the general public.

Cattleya orchids must be easier for folks to grow because most of us do not enjoy the benefits of a greenhouse. Indeed, cattleya orchid plants growers have been making some good progress in the frequency of cattleya blooming frequency and increasing the length of time that the flowers stay in bloom. I feel it will be over the next 2 - 5 years you will

see the popularity of these beautiful plants increase. If you did sign up for more in our monthly newsletter, address below. You will receive free "All About Orchids" e-book and a 10% discount on an orchid plant.

Cattleya Orchid Plant

Cattleya orchid growing

These cattleya orchids are probably the easiest to care for and like all plants need water, light and fertilizer. Playing some nice music or talking to them doesn't hurt either.

Most of the wild cattleya grow in rain forests of South America, namely in Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Mexico. They flourish in the Andes from altitudes near sea level to high altitudes of 9 - 10,000 feet. These cattleya orchids are truly epiphytes or air plants. So, they are used to being partly covered by the canopy of the rain forest and get considerable humidity and bright light to grow.

Being in the forest as noted above they are used to diffuse light all be it bright light. Cattleya orchids generally do not have direct mid day sunlight. The bright light helps them to develop hard pseudopods.

The pseudopods are the cattleya orchids main way to hold water which is so important for their growth and life. It is from the pseudopods that the orchid flowers come from.

Being in the forest and at various altitudes there are a wide range of temperatures that cattleya orchids plants are used to. In the winter and higher altitudes these cattleya orchid plants become accustom to temps which can go as low as 50 - 55 degrees in the winter and as high as 80-90 degrees in the summer.

Humidity is the friend to cattleya orchid. We can understand this from being in rain forests. Most cattleyas do well with being set on humidity trays. These are metal or plastic trays that are filled with pepples and then half full with water.

The plant roots cannot sit in water for a long period of time or else they will get root rot. Allow for good air circulation but not sitting in direct aim of an air vent.

Generally, watering cattleya orchids twice a week does well during their growth and flowering period and once a week during their period of rest.

Cattleyas are orchids that can and should get dry between watering. This aids in the growth of healthy pseudopods. Be sure that the potting medium allow the water to drain out fairly rapidly.

To check to see if a cattleya orchid plant needs water stick your finger about 1 inch into the potting material and see if it comes out dry or damp. If dry it needs watering. If damp it may be able to go another day or two without water.


Cattleya Orchid White Red

When watering cattleya orchids allow the water to flow into the cattleya orchids plant and then drain right out into the sink and not into the humidity tray.

You can let the water flow onto the cattleya orchid for about 20-30 seconds and the pseudopods will get enough water for storage.

If cattleya orchid plants are blossom in the winter or spring this means that these orchid plants deserve a rest period of about 6 to 8 weeks. During this time water cattleya orchids about once a week and keep the lighting the same.

If the cattleya orchid blossom in the summer time no rest period is needed.