Description of cattleya and native places of growth, agricultural technology for cultivation, rules for the reproduction of orchids, methods of pest and disease control, varieties. Cattleya is a plant belonging to the genus of epiphytes and lithophytes, those flora samples that can freely choose branches or trunks of nearby trees for their placement, or grow successfully on rocky ground. All these beautiful flowers are part of the extensive Orchidaceae family and if we talk about today, the Cattleya genus has up to 187 varieties. The native habitat of these flora representatives is in Central and South America, where they can grow at altitudes from 0 to 3,000 m above sea level.
European countries first learned about this delicate orchid at the beginning of the 19th century. And the plant bears its name in honor of the gardener who was the first to grow Cattleya in European lands - his name was William Cattley. The flowers, which were then bred from the main basic varieties, were so liked by breeders and flower growers that they began to give names to hybrids in honor of saints or Christian celebrations.
Plants have a sympodial type of growth - when there are shoots located almost lying (pseudobulbs). These pseudobulbs have 2-3 internodes, which give rise to one or a pair of leaf blades. Young shoots begin to form at the base of last year's shoots. The leaf is leathery on the surface, it itself is quite fleshy. When flowering, a flowering stem is formed, the height of which directly depends on the variety, it is crowned with an inflorescence. The number of buds included in the inflorescence is also determined by the type of orchid. Therefore, the shape of the inflorescence can be either one-flowered or in the form of a brush. The flowering stem takes its origin from the leaf sinus, and it is covered with integumentary leaves (a kind of "cover").
Flowers, as a rule, have an aroma in which you can guess the notes of lily of the valley or lily, their size is large, and the color is quite beautiful and varied. Often, the width of the flower petals is larger than the sepals. The column is long, its cross-section is in the form of a semicircle, and it also has a slight bend. This flower has two pairs of pollinia, they are waxy, with a slight flattened shape.
Features of caring for Cattleya at home
- Location and lighting level. When growing such an orchid, for the formation of a large number of buds, a very good level of light is required, even some abundance of direct sunlight, but so that there is no threat of overheating. The best place on the sill of a window facing southeast or west, in the south, you will have to arrange shade with gauze. In winter, additional lighting is necessary, and in summer you can take out a pot with an orchid to the balcony, but first having protected it from direct streams of ultraviolet radiation.
- Temperature indicators. For the normal state of this Cattleya, it will be necessary to maintain heat indicators in the range of 22-30 degrees on spring and summer days, but with the arrival of autumn, these standards are lowered to 13. The plant is afraid of drafts. It is important to create a daily temperature difference that will fluctuate around 7 degrees. On a balcony or in a loggia in the summer, it is easy to triple, but when growing in a room, you can open a window or window at night.
- Watering. The substrate in the pot should not dry; moistening is carried out by lowering the pot into a basin with soft lumpy water for a quarter of an hour. The frequency of watering is a couple of times a week in the summer, in winter this number is reduced. The signal for increasing watering during the growth period is the appearance of the peduncle from the "cover".
- Humidity maintained at 60%, regular spraying is important. It is only important to ensure that drops of moisture do not fall on the pseudobulb, cover and peduncle. In winter, spraying is not carried out, but the humidity is increased by placing the pot in a tray with expanded clay and a small amount of water.
- Fertilizers used for orchids during the growing season, such can be "Pokon" "Greenworld", and also use preparations of simple mineral compositions such as "Rainbow" and "Ideal". During the winter holidays, Cattleya are not fed. It is important not to overfeed the orchid - add a couple of drops of the product to a bowl of water when watering.
- Transplantation and selection of a substrate. The Cattleya does not really need transplants. This is done only when the roots have already crawled out too much from the holes of the pot, the substrate has begun to mold and turn sour (this is a sign of decomposition). In the first case, the container is selected in a larger size and the soil changes at the same time. But if the soil has become unusable, and the pot is sized to fit the root system of the orchid, then only the filler is replaced. It is important to be careful when transplanting so as not to damage the roots. The plant is removed from the pot, and the roots are carefully freed from the soil, since it is not difficult for an orchid to do this. A drainage layer and a substrate are placed on the bottom of the new container, then the Cattleya is placed there, and only then the voids in the pot are filled with the remnants of the soil. Such changes are performed every 2 years; it is also noticed that changing the soil in the container will help the flowering process. During transplantation, it is necessary to remove all shriveled and old bulbs, and even more so if parts of the rhizome are diseased or damaged in appearance.
The soil is selected very light, since these plants are mostly epiphytes, then aeration of the substrate is important here and so that it is well drained. A large number of holes should be provided in the new pot, and the soil is bought for growing orchids. You can make it yourself from large pieces of bark, detailed charcoal, coarse peat, coconut fiber and chopped sphagnum moss are also mixed there.
Self-breeding tips for Cattleya
To get a new plant in rooms, only the vegetative method is used. If we talk about seed cultivation of Cattleya, then only specialists can do it in laboratories or greenhouses. With your own hands, it is only possible to separate a bush of a strongly overgrown flower.
It seems possible to divide only the specimen that has more than 4 pseudobulbs. This operation is performed before flowers form on the Cattleya. The orchid is carefully removed from the pot, the substrate is shaken off from its roots, if possible, and then the rhizome must be cut into pieces with a very sharp and disinfected knife. Moreover, the delenki in this case must have 1 pseudobulb. All sections should be disinfected - sprinkled with crushed activated charcoal or charcoal. All parts of the orchid are planted in separate pots.
Difficulties in growing Cattleya and ways to solve them
The biggest problem when growing Cattleya is root rot, which occurs due to a violation of the soil moisture regime. It will be necessary to remove the affected roots, sprinkle them with crushed activated carbon and transplant them into a clean, disinfected substrate.
Of the pests that infect the orchid, aphids, spider mites and scale insects are isolated. To combat these pests, insecticidal preparations with a wide spectrum of action are used.
If the peduncle dries out, then perhaps this was due to a lack of moisture, the level of lighting or dressing. The problem will have to be clarified by changing the conditions of detention and observation. In the case when the soil is covered with a whitish bloom, then this is possible with the manifestation of a fungal infection - a replacement of the substrate will be required. When the leaf plates acquire a yellow tint, this has become the cause of too bright lighting. With its lack, the leaves turn into a dark green color and become soft to the touch, the entire orchid is strongly stretched in height.
When the leaves began to dry out on young Cattleya, this indicates an increased temperature, the plant should be transferred to cooler conditions. However, if the roots begin to die off, then resuscitation should be carried out: they use a growth stimulator of the root system (however, there are not always positive results). Sometimes, in such a situation, the orchid is not watered or sprayed for 14 days. At the same time, in search of moisture, new root processes will begin to grow in the orchid, but this process is quite long. In some cases, simply reducing watering to a minimum for a period of time helps.
Interesting facts about the Cattleya orchid
The Cattleya Mossiae flower is the national floral emblem of Venezuela, and the Cattleya Trianaei is the national flower of Colombia.
Types of cattleya
Cattleya bowringiana. Most often in the wild, it can be found in tropical forests, where it grows on the trunks and branches of trees. The height of the stem does not exceed 70 cm. Cylindrical bulbs can reach 60 cm in length, their outlines are narrowed in the lower part, and at the very base there is a slight expansion. The surface of the bulbs is covered with filmy scales of a whitish tone, and at the top there are a pair or rarely 3 leaf plates. The leaf shape is elongated, oblong, obtuse, there is a notch at the top. The length of the leaf reaches 12–20 cm, with a width of up to 5 cm. The surface is leathery, thick. The flowering process occurs in the autumn-winter period and can last up to a month.
The growing peduncle is usually short, but sometimes it is crowned with up to 20 buds. When the flower opens, its diameter can reach 8–10 cm. The color of sepals and petals is crimson, along which there is a pattern of bright, darker veins. The sepals are oblong, pointed at the apex. The petals are almost twice as wide as sepals, the edge is wavy, the top is obtuse. There is a spot of white or yellow color on the pharynx. The lip is purple, has funnel-shaped outlines, it is curled around the column, has an opening in front, at the apex it is wide and globular. If you grow this variety in rooms, then it will not exceed 30 cm in height.
Cattleya forbesii. The native habitat is in Brazil. There, this representative of the orchid family is located on the trunks or branches of trees as an epiphyte. The plant has two-leaved stems, reaching a length of 15-30 cm, with thin cylindrical or elongated fusiform contours. Leaf plates with oblong outlines, with a blunt apex, reaching 15 cm in length and no more than 5 cm in width. The flowering process takes place in it in spring (according to other sources, it occurs in summer or autumn) and stretches for 7-14 days. At this time, a short peduncle appears, at the top of which from 2 to 6 buds are located. The diameter of the flower in opening can reach 10 cm. The petals and sepals have a pale olive tint with a yellowish tint, or they can be painted in a light brown tone, darker streaks appear on the surface. Their shape is oblong-lanceolate with a slight crescent bend.
The lip is snow-white with a slight pinkish bloom. It has 3 lobes, and the lateral ones are larger, with an elongated shape, they wrap around the column. Outside, these blades are cast in ivory with an admixture of pink, and inside there is an orange-yellow color scheme with a pattern of reddish-brown veins. The central lobe of the lip is rounded-triangular; along the edge it is shaded with a pale yellow color scheme, curly. Inside there is an orange-yellow spot just in the center, it is decorated with streaks and specks of reddish-brown color. There is a pleasant aroma. It differs in unpretentiousness in comparison with other varieties of Cattleya and even a novice florist can cope with its cultivation.
Cattleya Wargevich (Cattleya warscewicziii) is also found under the name Cattleya giant. Native habitats are in the highlands of Colombia. It has large pseudobulbs and elongated leaf blades. The flowers have a huge corolla, the length of which can be up to 25 cm. Long inflorescences are collected from the buds. The lip edge is wavy. Due to the fact that the size of the flower is quite large, this variety is often used in works on the breeding of hybrid orchids. Caring for this flower requires skill and skill. The flowering process occurs at the end of spring and lasts up to 2 weeks.
Cattleya labiata (Cattleya labiata). It is possible to meet this flower only in the northeast of Brazilian lands, it grows like an epiphyte on trees. The dimensions of a pseudobulb rarely exceed 25 cm. Its shape is in the form of a spindle with a slight flattening. The entire surface of the pseudobulbs is covered with membranous scales with a grayish-green color scheme. Leaf plates with an oblong contour, obtuse, with a small notch at the top. The surface is leathery, the leaf is dense, its dimensions reach 25 cm with a width of up to 5 cm.
The flowering process occurs during September-October. The stretching peduncle can measure 15 cm in height. At the same time, a small number of large-sized flowers (about 15 cm in diameter) with petals painted in a pinkish or lilac color scheme are formed on it. The sepals have the same shade. The shape of the petals is narrow-lanceolate, ovate, their width is three times the width of the sepals. The edge of the petals is wavy. The lip is large, funnel-shaped, indistinctly divided into three lobes. There, the lateral lobes wrap around the column, and the middle one is spread, its color is the same as that of the petals. However, in the front part there is a large spot of crimson color, in the throat there is a spot with a pale yellow tint and reddish streaks, the edge is light pink, curly. There is a pleasant aroma. This variety is also often used in breeding work.
Cattleya bicolor (Cattleya bicolor). It can vary in height from 30 to 60 cm. The flower is often 10 cm in diameter, the color of the petals is brownish-reddish with a lip tinted with purple tint, it is lighter along the edge. The flowering process occurs from autumn to winter.
Cattleya Trianaei reaches a height of half a meter. The flowers are very large, their diameter is 20 cm. The color of the petals is white-pink, while the lip has a bright crimson color with a white edging. The orchid begins to delight with flowers in the winter or spring.
Cattleya hybrida (Cattleya hybrida) combines a wide variety of bred varieties of this orchid. In such plants, flowers differ not only in color and rich colors, but also in shape and size, and the orchid itself can have different parameters in height. The most popular variety is considered:
- White Cattleya (Cattleya Earllmperials) with white petals and lips, petals and lip are characterized by a wavy edge, as well as a bright yellow spot on the lip in depth.
- The fast-growing raspberry cattleya (Cattleya Mayuki Little Kin) has a raspberry-lilac color on the petals and lips. On the surface there is a pattern of veins in a darker tone. Inside the lip there is a spot of a very beautiful color, a bright red appears from the general tone, smoothly turning into a rich yellow hue.
How to grow Cattleya orchid, see below:
