Cycnoches herrenhusanum in spike
 

This will be my first experience with successfully getting a species cycnoches through the winter without rotting or dying on me :whew So, I'm very excited to see this new growth on my Cycnoches herrenhusanum! I believe it's a spike. Am I correct? If so, should I move it indoors to protect the spike or leave it where it is? With my catesetums in spike, I usually don't move them indoors for protection until the spikes start to show defined buds.

Some of your fellow Floridians will have good advice. But Catasetinae in general love warm summer weather. (Hot and humid...) Keep it well watered, and outside. It does look like a spike. Congratulations.

Thanks, Roberta! I guess I'm pretty hyper-vigilant when it comes to this particular orchid due to how unpredictable it can be. Also, last year I dealt with some unidentified chewing insect destroying new buds on a catesetum. I was not happy since I had waited so patiently for that particular orchid to flower.

I have this one potted PET style. It gets plenty of water, light, good air circulation and lots of humidity. No doubt that's why it's doing so well. I will keep it outside and keep a watchful eye on that spike!

And look out for the critters!! Maybe a screened-in area? And lay in a supply of BT (bacillus thuringiensis) products. Caterpillars and those "little green worms", it works, the only thing that does.

I am familiar with BT products. However, I've opted to not use them in my orchid garden because BT kills ALL caterpillars. I have several types of butterflies that visit my garden and I really don't want to harm them.

A temporary screened enclosure is a great idea. I wonder if I can rig up one or two using a couple of butterfly tents I have sitting around. The mesh on those particular tents seems to be pretty caterpillar-proof. Also, I don't have that many catasetinae so I usually don't have too many in bud at the same time. I'm going to try it and I'll let you know if it works ;)

Wouldn't Eric enjoy another project? Happy wife...! :blushing:

the curly tailed lizards eat spikes of my catasetums...they are awful.

i would not bring it in ever bc air conditioning seems to really piss off outdoor grown plants in my experience

Already on it! Eric is drawing up some plans as we speak. He has internalized that mantra very well:

A happy wife means a happy life :)

What great guy! Wow!

Curly tails are little beasts for sure. Luckily, I haven't had that issue. However, now that I said it, I've probably jinxed myself!

I agree about the AC. I have a room in the house that seems to keep oven temperatures throughout the year no matter what (it's hot in there!). That's where I usually put my flowering catesetums and they've done pretty well. However, I am going to keep them all outdoors this year. The budding one(s) will go temporarily into a new screened enclosure that will keep them safe from the bugs, hopefully :)