leaves-single or double

[clxt7321]

Have a Blc. Hawaiin Super Flare 'Carmela'. Have had it for a couple of years and it has not bloomed. It has seven stems, each with a single leaf. It has sprouted two new growths--one has two leaves and the other isn't big enough to tell if there is one or two leaves.
What's happening??? I thought catts had either one OR two leaves per stem.

Karen H

[Oscarman]

Karen what you have here is a very complex cattleya alliance hybrid. A combination of bifoliate and unifoliate species were used to create it over many generations (at least 7, in this case).

I have seen this extra leaf on my some of my catts also and consider it a sign of the plant doing well.

If it has 7 stems and 2 new ones it should be big enough to flower. What is holding it back...light, fertilizer??

[clxt7321]

Thanks for the explanation.
Reason for not blooming--probably a little of "all of the above".
Had my meager collection of phals. oncidium and catts in a north west window. Got a few more plants and ran out of room in that window so moved them to the back porch which faces south west. The plants did not get direct, but very bright, sun. Guess I didn't acclimatize them slowly enough so some got a little sun burned.
Have now moved oncidium , catts and one bellra outside, behind a hedge where they get mostly mottled shade most of the day. Will that be enough light?
I fertilize "weakly weekly" but maybe too weakly.

Karen H

[Oscarman]

It looks like your catt has a bit of reddening on the leaves indicating maximum light exposure.

When I put mine outside, I place them where they will receive morning and/or evening sun and I mist them and all around 1 or 2 times daily. They usually have a very light reddish tint and grow strong. They also get ample water and are fertilized once a week.

[Ray]

Karen,

A good, but simple collection of "rules of thumb" on feeding:

• DO NOT use a high-nitrogen formula like Mir-Acid (30-10-10). The extra nitrogen will give great, lush, emerald green foliage, but the plant may never bloom.
• Divide 10 by the % N in the fertilizer formula to determine the teaspoons per gallon to mix up. Feel free to round up or down to make measuring easier.
• Feed regularly when the plants are in active growth. Less, or not at all when they are dormant (some genera are never dormant). By "regularly" I mean 3 out of 4 waterings, with that 4th being clear water only. During those dormant periods, I'd cut back to 1 out of 4 times.

If you happen to be growing in Semi-Hydroponic culture, I recommend feeding at every watering.

[clxt7321]

I've been fertilizing with "Orchid Fertilizer" (25-10-10).
Yes, my leaves are mostly a darker green.
Would I be better off using a regular " all purpose" plant food (20-20-20) then?? I already have some of that.

Karen H