Project 2016: Cattleya walkeriana

[Optimist]

From my reading so far, walkeriana has about the same range as Cattleya loddigesii. This is in the MIOS journal online. The walkeriana lives as an epiphyte, or as a lithophite, and has constant water on the roots in the sense of rainfall, or moving water such as "streams" not as a stagnant pool. There are pictures of this area, the orchids are totally out in the open, on big grey rocks, no cover, no trees, and they live alongside cactus, and other grass, and even other types of orchids. Huge fields of orchids on rocks. further reading places them in the "cold hardy" or temperature hardy division of cattleyas (27 to 100 F), Hybrids are more likely to be more intermediate. However there is a natural hybrid between walkeriana and loddigesii. I am thinking that I will be potting it in an over sized pot, (to keep in more moisture) in lava with some marble or granite chips, and then will throw it outside in full sun and water it X3 per day like the others. In fact, if anything, the care will be more like the Reccharia/Myrmecocattleya.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Wintergirl I have the same one. I didn't think it looked as healthy as the other Catt's I got from Fred either. But it did have a nice big full psb. I of course under watered it and they are not as full. My leaves are not as bad as yours but my new one from last year has a small curl in it and now the new one looks like it is going to have one also. My small ones, remember he sent me a smaller plant that turned out to be 2 in one pot, they both look good. I had re-potted them in separate pots the smallest in a 1 1/2 inch pot. It had started a new growth and I wasn't watering it enough and it dried up. I now water the 2 small ones every day and the smallest has a new growth and now the middle child has 2. I re-potted the biggest one about a month and a half ago and I water it every other day. I didn't have roots like my other SVO Catts did but enough to grow.

I will be waiting to hear what Fred has to say. I also have a hybrid that is from him that will be opening soon that had 2 growths one stopped with it being short and the leaf didn't seem to be coming out of the stuff around the psb so I cut it off. It's kind of funny looking but the silly thing is going to have 3 blooms. The nice big one is only going to have 1, go figure.

I have attributed it to me not watering enough.

[wintergirl]

Thanks Shannon. I was wondering what you thought. All my other SVO orchids are just wonderful and get the same care as the walkeriana. Maybe it is a combo of reduced moisture and a weak plant. I really thought it is doing well with the new growth but when it came out bent I was puzzled. The new growth was very soft and had a moist feel, not dry at all. Glad we are doing this project, it is good to see other plants and how they are grown.

[estación seca]

My normal walkeriana in S/H was getting about 3 hours of direct morning sun through the sunroom window, but it was back about 6 feet from the window. I moved it right next to that window. Everything was fine until we had a pretty hot day, with outdoor temperatures up to 102 F / 39C. Inside the sunroom it was in the upper 90s F / 37C. The plant got a big burn in the middle of the just-completed leaf. Some of the other Cattleya seedlings in the same window also got burned spots. None of them is seriously damaged, and most are making new growth.

I bought a portable fan and pointed it at that group of plants, blowing air from behind them directly at the window. So far no more trouble.

I also have a plant from Fred that arrived looking like wintergirl's walkeriana, and made a bent growth that never fully expanded: Slc. Golden Wax x Blc. Guess What. Since I began watering more, the same growth that made the bent growth has put out a normal growth, which is bigger than the bent one, and is expanding normally. I don't know whether the plant had trouble at Fred's and has outgrown it, or whether I underwatered at first.

[Optimist]

I also think that granite rock dust is important to the care of these, possibly all cattleyas from this area. Decaying granite, and greenstone are always mentioned in conjunction with their care. Granite dust is actually a very good fertilizer.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Originally Posted by Optimist

I also think that granite rock dust is important to the care of these, possibly all cattleyas from this area. Decaying granite, and greenstone are always mentioned in conjunction with their care. Granite dust is actually a very good fertilizer.

How about just some added calcium like oyster shells?

So yesterday I decided to take off the stuff around the psb and the leaf is sort of rolled up in there. I also felt a lump of something in my C. Leoloddigossa x C. bicolor that was opening. I split them and it looks sort of like your walkeriana does. I really think it is under water or humidity. I'll try and get a picture of them both.

[Jenascrich]

Outside, hanging on a palm with filtered


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[u bada]

it's really worth noting (and excuse me if already said here) that when you get seedlings it's really a crapshoot because out of a batch there will always be weaker ones...and in general there will always be ones with different genetics than others. Some plants are just reluctant to bloom. Growers throw them out. Some plants don't grow well, growers throw them out. etc.

The plants that are awarded have top genetics on top of having good culture. Getting divisions or meristems give you more of a guarantee towards success. they also cost more. So it's very possible some of the c. walkeriana's may not be "good".

One particular case for me that's memorable is that i got a dendrobium torresae that never ever bloomed. I thought i was doing something wrong and never got it again. then I eventually succumbed and got another one from a different vendor that looked amazing, and it's pretty much has grown steadily and blooms all the time for years whether it gets high light low light, high temps or low temps... sometimes it really is just the plant.

already I'm thinking the c. walkeriana I have may not be a good egg either. From the sound of others it should be putting out more growth... and i really give it prime real estate conditions wise for it... looks otherwise healthy though...

[stonedragonfarms]

Originally Posted by u bada

it's really worth noting (and excuse me if already said here) that when you get seedlings it's really a crapshoot because out of a batch there will always be weaker ones...and in general there will always be ones with different genetics than others. Some plants are just reluctant to bloom. Growers throw them out. Some plants don't grow well, growers throw them out. etc.

The plants that are awarded have top genetics on top of having good culture. Getting divisions or meristems give you more of a guarantee towards success. they also cost more. So it's very possible some of the c. walkeriana's may not be "good".

One particular case for me that's memorable is that i got a dendrobium torresae that never ever bloomed. I thought i was doing something wrong and never got it again. then I eventually succumbed and got another one from a different vendor that looked amazing, and it's pretty much has grown steadily and blooms all the time for years whether it gets high light low light, high temps or low temps... sometimes it really is just the plant.

already I'm thinking the c. walkeriana I have may not be a good egg either. From the sound of others it should be putting out more growth... and i really give it prime real estate conditions wise for it... looks otherwise healthy though...

This is a great point; one of the Aussie hybridizers recently launched a discussion about this in another group that I belong to. The conversation condenses down to a few key points:
-When looking for potential quality in plants, a grower should be obtaining 12-15 seedlings of the same plant (under ideal conditions, the grower should be able to hand pick these)
-Seedlings should be placed in uniform media and grown on following the same regimen; furthermore, they should be graded, ie the top 3, the bottom 3, the middle group.
-Given identical care, all should flower in roughly the same span of time; the 3 with the best quality flowers are the keepers; the rest should be passed on
A lot of what is available from nurseries are either meristems, divisions or seedling crosses; meristems should typically be consistent with the original material used for culture, provided said material was not treated chemically (ie colchine)--if the parent material was a stellar plant, the meristems should be as well. The same goes for divisions; they should be identical to the parent plant; a possible exception being in the case of variegated divisions. Seedling crosses though, it's anyone's guess--hence the advice to purchase 12-15 of the progeny.

---------- Post added at 11:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:30 PM ----------

Originally Posted by No-Pro-mwa

How about just some added calcium like oyster shells?

So yesterday I decided to take off the stuff around the psb and the leaf is sort of rolled up in there. I also felt a lump of something in my C. Leoloddigossa x C. bicolor that was opening. I split them and it looks sort of like your walkeriana does. I really think it is under water or humidity. I'll try and get a picture of them both.

If the vegetative sheaths are tight, resulting in leaves that are unable to emerge properly, I'd be more inclined to think it a humidity problem. I have an Oncidium flexuosum that exhibits this tendency if the rh drops too low. A second scenario might be if the developing lead was suddenly subjected to massive root loss, though the plant should correct this on subsequent growths, provided it has put out new roots.

[wintergirl]

With mine the sheath wasn't tight. Everything seemed soft and supple but there was just a bend at the end of the leaf. The leaf was basically emerged but not opened yet and had a bend at the bottom part.