Catasetum Flower Spike Development

[isurus79]

I've got some variability with my Catasetum Black Knight, sometimes looking black and sometimes looking dark red. I have assumed it's temperature related. However, that's the only flower I can think of that changes color between bloomings. It could just be that so many of the Catasetinae bloom during the heat of summer, but I'm not entirely sure.

[mopwr]

Update: the spikes have lengthenned a good bit. The buds have darkenned to a deep burgundy - so far, no bud blast, but, as I expected, this beast is now way to big for my contained indoor setup. So far so good though, and this is way beyond my expectations for my first blooming.

All spikes are still there, but even without changing the light direction in any meaningful way up to this point - the spikes have really done whatever they wanted to do it would seem. No idea how they get those neatly cascading spikes that I see on the internet.

[mopwr]

It's been two weeks and here's what developed. The early blooming black pearl is now beginning to open flowers, finally. I feel like it was the better part of a month from buds to flowers opening. Some of the spikes are what I'd call semi-pendulous, they seemed to chase the light for a long time before the weight of the spikes pulled them in a downward direction. This plant is enormouse as it stands right now and in order to keep this thing from tipping over, I had jerry rig some pots heavy enough to hold it down. I had to nest the 4" plastic pot it was in, inside a 5" clay pot... And then I put that pot inside of a 6" clay pot... And with that, now there's enough weight to keep it balanced.

Other plants now spiking are my new SVO hybrid (Cyc. Richard Brandon 'SVO II AM/AOS'x Cyc. Dark Swan 'Black Swan') and my Cycnodes Wine Delight. Both of them, so far seem to be stretching out towards the light a bit, but definitley not as hard as Black Pearl.

The new Cycnoches hybrid seems to be undecided as to which direction it wants to go with both spikes going in different directions. The Cycnoches hybrid also had to be nested inside of a heavier pot - and I'm betting I'll need to do that again once buds start showing up, as it's very very tall and still in the nursery pot from SVO (which is tiny).

The wine delight spike is moving out just about level from the plant, but I expect it to drop a bit as the buds form, but this is the only catasetum type I've had so far do this. Everything else starts out growing straight up almost.

P.S. - Excuse the look of the cycnodes. It arrived to me early in the season, cold, shipped soaking wet, clearly watered too early by the previous grower and had a rough start, but hey it eventually got going and it still bloomed!

[WaterWitchin]

Wow... that second picture! Very striking!

[Roberta]

Wonderful blooming! Definitely find a clay pot for that last one! When it's repotting time, a thought... I use bulb pans (large surface area for the height) for those top-heavy Catasetinae, so that the "footprint" is bigger, keep the center of gravity low - definitely more stable without overdoing the medium, still get the water retention of plastic.

[mopwr]

Originally Posted by Roberta

Wonderful blooming! Definitely find a clay pot for that last one! When it's repotting time, a thought... I use bulb pans (large surface area for the height) for those top-heavy Catasetinae, so that the "footprint" is bigger, keep the center of gravity low - definitely more stable without overdoing the medium, still get the water retention of plastic.

What size bulb pan would you recommend? I think I've only seen those locally in clay, but I never really looked that hard. All of these plants pictured are still growing in the pots they arrived in from the previous grower, since roots had already started in most cases and I didn't want to chance root damage. Also, I (naively) assumed that since they were in 3 and 4" plastic pots, that that would be sufficient for at least this growing season - clearly that was not the case. The only one I have that's at all comfortable / stable, in the pot they're in is the clowesia jumbo grace I have, because a.) I chose to pot it up a bit and b.) I put river rocks in the bottom based on what I saw with my other catasetums, lol.

The cycnoches looks comical at this point, it's 16" tall growing in a shallow 3" pot and it's pulling water so fast, watering everyday doesn't keep up with it. I wouldn't dare have that plant out of it's clay outside pot because it literally can't stand on it's own at this point without it. The cycnodes is starting to lean as the roots are pushing out of the bottom and starting to raise the plant up on one side, so that one is destined for a clay pot - probably today.

[Roberta]

First. no worries about the size of plants vs. the pots they came in... SVO plants are vigorous, this is is typically what they do in the first year. 6 inch bulb pans will work well. For some like Fdk. After Dark (that turn into real beasts) you'll probably eventually have to move up to 8 inch in a couple of years. I get them online, usually have to do some looking so worth stocking up if you find what you want. Flori-culture seems to have a full range of sizes. Greenhousemegastore and Kelley's Corner seem to have only larger sizes (at least at the moment)... worth checking back. Wonder if it's seasonal.

[Roberta]

Scrolled down in the Google search and found another source for the 6 inch size
Bulb Pans, 6" Green Plastic, Lot of 10 Pots - Secret Garden Rare Plants

[mopwr]

A small update here... While doing some experimenting with my Cycnodes Wine Delight, I noticed that the spike definitely seeks out the light. I had to rotate it left / right for a while because the spike was growing straight towards the glass of my enclosure. In an ironic twist, when I pointed the spike away from the light, it stopped stretching and started dropping down towards the ground. My complex cycnoches hybrid similarly stretched so high towards the light that I think that one of the buds blasted due to being too close to the lights - though that could entirely be a coincidence. When I moved it to a slightly lower light spot and pointed the buds away from the light, they similarly began to grow downward.

This is far from scientific, but if nothing else, this should serve as my log of what I've experienced to date... Complete with pretty pictures.

I've attached pictures of my 'SVO Black Pearl' with all flowers open, my Cycnodes Wine Delight with buds just opening (seedling, not J.EM. per the label, but I'm loving the color which seems to get darker by the day), and my complex Cycnoches, with it's buds still swelling up on double spikes.

[My Green Pets]

Congrats, great blooms! I think it helps orient the blooms if there is clearly darkness below them and brightness above them. I mean this in the most sincere way. I used to have my whole collection on a white table and the spikes grew into sideways, twisted monstrosities. Once I put a dark tarp under them, however, the spikes started growing out beautifully.