Suggestions of fall and early winter blooming orchids?
 

After reading and posting in the recent thread about what % of a collection is generally in bloom at any one time, I realized that I have a 'problem'. The bulk of my collection blooms between February and September, and from October to December I have nearly nothing going on.

I know you guys will have plenty of good ideas, so what are your favorite fall to early winter blooming orchids?

My criteria:
*Nothing large (certainly no full sized Cattleya), I would prefer something that stays rather compact, spikes excluded from total height.

*Intermediate temperatures, average house humidity (winter 18-21°C and summer 22-27°C, 30-60% humidity)

I want to know that too.

The only things I have blooming from Sept to Dic are Cyms and 4 Catts. And of course the hybrid Phals.
Then, I think the terrarium will be in it best also, but within the tank environment.

Maybe some zygos.

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Look here

Habenaria (medusa and rhodocheila tend to bloom October-November), Clowesia, and some of the Latouria Dens like hodgkinsonii and macrophyllum, are some of my best fall and winter bloomers. All my mini Catts with the Sophronitis backgrounds are usually poppin that time of the year too

Laelia lundii

My late autumn/early winter bloomers are:

Cycd. Wine Delight (october)
Rlc. Jessie Lee (october)
Paph. villosum (november)
Bulbo Lovely Elizabeth (november)
Bulbo medusae (december)
Mo. Jumbo world (january)
Fdk. Desert Davison (january)

Of course the ones that spring to mind first for me are big things that are not candidates for indoor growing (like Cymbidiums and L. anceps and relatives thereof) But looking back over my records (I do track such things), some ideas.

Mini-Catts are great any time of year because they often will bloom 2 or 3 times a year (including fall),don't take up much space and aren't fussy about light or temperature. Problem outside the US I suspect is availability. (Sunset Valley Orchids needs a branch office...)

Of the Catasetinae, as a group Cycnoches and Mormodes (and hybrids where they are dominant) tend to bloom in the fall. (Where Catasetums tend to bloom earlier)

In the Dendrobium department, look for Den. Hibiki or Den bracteosum (smaller version Den. tanii) that are in bloom most of the time any time of year.

Max variabilis - blooms at various times, including fall . Stenoglottis longifolia is a great terrestrial that puts on a good show in the fall. The hybrid with Stenoglottis fimbriata is even better. (Stenoglottis Venus)

Lc. Love Knot and Lc. Mari's Song are two that should bloom in spring and autumn. (I look for hybrids that have one of the following: C. aclandiae, C. walkeriana, L. pumila, L. sincorana as hybrids with these usually stay small, often bloom more than once a year, and are often fragrant).
My current Brassavola nodosa usually starts blooming for me in autumn and continues until February.

Good luck!

Thanks for all the great suggestions! Mini catts are a great option, though as someone noted, SVO does not have an EU branch office! I'll keep my eye out for any with Sophronitis in their background might fit the bill...

Den Hibiki is a great one, but alas I've already killed 3, and done so quickly that I never saw any of them bloom. So I'm hesitant to try again.

Cycnodes Wine Delight is a great suggestion, and I think it's one that is easily available here. I also like the Laelia lundii suggestion!

A species to look for, that blooms about that time, is Sophronitis cernua. It likes to a bit warmer than its other Sophronitis cousins, so might be a good candidate. And totally charming. Mine usually blooms November-ish.

I really love this orchid, but sadly I've already killed 4 of them, 2 mounted and 2 potted. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong... I had given up after the last one a couple years ago, but if you have any tips I might give it one last shot.

Hard to say, since my growing conditions are so different. I do think they benefit from RO water (the one change that greatly improved my success rate for a lot of species) Both of mine are mounted. They don't get anything special. Bright shade or filtered sun, daily watering, whatever humidity Mother Nature provides.

It doesn't sound like a complicated, fussy plant. So I really don't know what I'm doing wrong. Switching to RO doesn't seem like it will benefit my plants much, my tapwater is so pure that I use MSU for rain/RO water... I could give it a try anyways.

If your tap water is good, RO is not likely to be useful. Mine is moderate TDS (200-350 ppm) and fairly high pH (Calcium bicarbonate, a stubborn pH of 7.8) Better than the liquid rocks coming out of the tap in most of southern California but not great. Until I got RO, I needed to add vinegar to my fertilizer water to get the pH down to about 6.5 .

My tapwater has an EC of 0.15 ms/cm, which I think is in the ballpark of the 50-100 ppm range. I know they can't be directly converted, but there are very rough equivalents. pH is 7.8, only because it legally must be above 7 to avoid damaging the pipes. Adjusting it is difficult because the water is barely buffered, and even the tiniest pinch of citric acid will make the pH plunge to 5 or lower!

Sadly I have not been able to locate a new Soph cernua, but they regularily pop up at vendors so I'll keep an eye out for one.

Camille, your water is pretty pure (so has little buffering capacity) Out of curiosity, what do they use to adjust the pH up? Mine is buffered at 7.8 because it is loaded with calcium bicarbonate. If they using a dab of sodium hydroxide, ouch. (I know some growers in an area near San Francisco who ended up with big problems, and some dead plants, when the water company started "adjusting" the pH of their very pure water with NaOH, of course without telling anybody)

Also a thought on pH adjustment... maybe try vinegar... fairly dilute to begin with, weak acid so might be easier to titrate the water (dropwise if necessary) That's why I used it when I was using tap water for fertilizing... it was easy to control and not over-shoot. Also easy to obtain. (Cheap store-brand in big bottle)

I have a few dendrobiums that bloom on and off all year long. Plus, they are very easy to grow indoors or outdoors.

- Dendrobium auriculatum (very strong pleasant fragrance)
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...9fedc4d60f.jpg

- Dendrobium Jonathan's Glory 'Dark Joy' (compact and fragrant)
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...bc8e7ed419.jpg

- Dendrobium goldschmidtianum (rambly but fun)
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8e995fd9ff.jpg



Also..

Procatavola Golden Peacock is a compact and easy grower that blooms 3 times a year for me. It does bloom better outside, but does well indoors. It doesn't seem to mind full sun either. Very adaptable! I think the Brassocattleya Richard Mueller hybrids are all very nice...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...cd3eab4d64.jpg

I found this site really helped me pick a compact fragrant cattleya.

Cattleya

If you click on each variety it tells you if it is compact and if it has a fragrance.
I wanted to get the last one on the list the huan gold but it isn't compact so I will stick with the compact ones.

You need to read the description carefully though, the fragrant ones are the ones where it is specifically mentioned. Like the Shinfong Little Sun is marked as fragrant but I know the fragrance is hardly noticeable - still seems to be accurate if you read the description, they either don't mention it (basically non fragrant) to fragrant and extremely fragrant ones.

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check out this beauty:

Lc. (Lc Love Knot' 'SVO' x Lc Blue Rose 'Dark Blue') / Orchids.com

or
Lc. Tiny Treasure 'Sweetheart' ' (C. Porcia x L. lucasiana) / Orchids.com

Cattleya trianae, or Cattleya percivaliana.

Two of my favorites!

Thanks for all the great suggestions! Hybrids are complicated though since it's rare to find the same ones available on both sides of the pond. Otherwise I would have immediately added the Den Jonathan's Glory and the Proc Golden Peacock to my shopping list!

I'll definitely look for that Den auriculatum, it's a really nice looking one!

I didn't realize so many Catts are fall bloomers, I mistakenly thought that they were all (or nearly all) spring/summer type plants. How about Laelia pumila? I came across it whille looking for the 2 Catts species listed. It's small and seems to be fall blooming. Is it a difficult species to grow?

I have a L. pumila that grows slowly, but blooms every year. I'm growing it outside, it would probably grow better if a bit warmer. Definitely is a fall bloomer.

I forgot that you're in the Netherlands! I think Den auriculatum would be a great choice.

The temperatures that L pumilla needs is one of the advantages for a european climate but I suppose it does depend how cold a home gets, pumilla likes a cool rest down to about 12 degrees C. I have a few that seem to have adapted well at mine so far. Compared to a sophronitis coccinea I'd say the pumilla is easier but it is a mini that will require frequent watering so its all subjective.
Mine get roughly 24/18 degrees in summer and 20 down to 12 degrees in winter. Same light as a Neofinetia falcata.

Darn... Cool winters is something that I just can't do, and is the reason why I only get 3-4 blooms per spike on my Neofinetia... I have just 1 grow area in my living room, and the majority of my collection is Phals, which can't get too cool. And I live in a recently built apartment complex (very well insulated - too well, it turns into an oven during hot summers), and the only time the temps drop below 18C at night is if it is well below freezing.

I do think the pumilla would need it like a neofinetia but maybe it will still do ok right next to your coldest window and it is a very cute Cattleya even when not in bloom.

But thinking about your conditions I think a warm growing Brassavola, eg little stars or jimmeny cricket would be good choices.

Also worth noting is that Angraecum Magdalenae flowers in Winter. Angraecum scottianum flowers in spring. Cross them together and you end up with a great Angraecum crosse that flowers in Autumn, the lady lisa which likes it a bit warmer

Also consider Cattleya labiata. Flowers September to Novemeber

I never thought it would be so difficult to find a fall blooming orchid within my specs! But it does make shopping fun and interesting. I also found an article by Martin Motes and Ascocentrums, and read that Ascocentrum miniatum and A. aurantiacum are fall bloomers too. They also fall within my size and temperature preferences.