I have a question for the Catasetum experts out there.
I only have one plant from the Catasetinae group (a Clowesetum) that grew a single gigantic bulb last year, far larger than the previous year(s) and bloomed for the first time. This year that bulb has put out 2 growths. However when looking back at photos from last year, they are clearly lagging behind in development. Sept 23rd of last year, the bulb girth was 15cm at the fattest point. Today I measured the growths, and they both have a circumference of 9cm. Which is 40% smaller than last year, and which seems like an uncomfortably large difference.
Is it normal for growths to become smaller when there is more than one ? If you considere total bulb volume, it's the same as last year, but I would expect that both would be larger, due to 2 sets of everything (leaves and roots).
If the smaller size isn't normal, this means that my culture was suboptimal this year, and I've already identified 2 potential causes:
- A massive spider mite infestation in June, which led to quite a bit of leaf discoloration.
- A lack of heat waves this summer. Last year was abnormally hot, and the average temperature in my apartment was probably at or just above 30°C for a large part of the growing season. This year has been more normal, around 25-26°C inside, and there has been far less sun (my plant lives in a south facing window).
Catasetum bulb size with one versus multiple growths?
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