This thread has been prompted by a chat with fellow slippertalk member William Green. More on that later.
Cattleya dowiana has a reputation for being a finicky grower and succumbs readily to rot if watered during its resting phase.
However, if you get the conditions right, Chadwick tells us that it is a vigorous species.
This is the story of my plant so far.
It arrived in November 2020 as a South American import via Germany and looked dehydrated and without many good roots. Sort of normal for this process. It’s the plant on the left of this photo.
Anyway it had started to grow so it was treated gently and watered sparingly until the new growths were a bit bigger. By May the plant had made up these new bulbs and was rooting. Things seemed to be progressing well. See second photo.
The plant had rehydrated with the production of the new roots and the leaves were looking much better. Anyway the plant then decided to go into another phase of growth without pause. The new roots continued to grow and grow to such an extent as the new growth was developing that it was given a repot. I’ve not seen another species or even hybrid produce this much root growth.
Now we are just at beginning of the third growth. Two eyes are swelling and all appears well.
Three species of cattleyas grow quite close to each other in Colombia. These are rex, dowiana and warscewiczii. Both rex and dowiana have the same reputation for finicky growth.
William Green found that his rex seedlings started to grow before the start of the wetter summer season. He has a really interesting video about it on his YouTube channel ‘My green pets’. He is not going to start to water them well until the new growths are quite large.
Checking the climate data for dowiana, although this plant is starting to grow, in the wild February is part of the dry winter period with little rain and even March has only a modest increase. It’s not until April that the wet summer really starts.
So maybe I should do the same for mine, although the plant may still be adjusting to northern hemisphere time.
Its also possible that both species normally start their new growths before any appreciable rain. The reason that they are thought of as being rot prone Is too much early water when the new shoots are young. Chadwick already recommends not starting to water warscewiczii until the new shoots are four inches (10cm) tall.
So maybe these three species, that all grow in a similar area, all benefit from this delay in watering. Time will tell! William will find out this season about rex. I will probably delay watering my dowiana well until the new growths are well underway. I will watch the older bulbs and look for any stress.
The climate data also showed that the minimum temperatures that these species received was about 20c with a max of 30c year round. No drops in winter. This could also be a reason for rot. I don’t know many people that run a greenhouse with a minimum of 20c. However for us indoor growers, it’s much easier. Getting the temperature to drop can be the issue. So maybe these species are easier indoors. Time will tell.
Fingers crossed!
David
Cattleya dowiana has a reputation for being a finicky grower and succumbs readily to rot if watered during its resting phase.
However, if you get the conditions right, Chadwick tells us that it is a vigorous species.
This is the story of my plant so far.
It arrived in November 2020 as a South American import via Germany and looked dehydrated and without many good roots. Sort of normal for this process. It’s the plant on the left of this photo.
Anyway it had started to grow so it was treated gently and watered sparingly until the new growths were a bit bigger. By May the plant had made up these new bulbs and was rooting. Things seemed to be progressing well. See second photo.
The plant had rehydrated with the production of the new roots and the leaves were looking much better. Anyway the plant then decided to go into another phase of growth without pause. The new roots continued to grow and grow to such an extent as the new growth was developing that it was given a repot. I’ve not seen another species or even hybrid produce this much root growth.
Now we are just at beginning of the third growth. Two eyes are swelling and all appears well.
Three species of cattleyas grow quite close to each other in Colombia. These are rex, dowiana and warscewiczii. Both rex and dowiana have the same reputation for finicky growth.
William Green found that his rex seedlings started to grow before the start of the wetter summer season. He has a really interesting video about it on his YouTube channel ‘My green pets’. He is not going to start to water them well until the new growths are quite large.
Checking the climate data for dowiana, although this plant is starting to grow, in the wild February is part of the dry winter period with little rain and even March has only a modest increase. It’s not until April that the wet summer really starts.
So maybe I should do the same for mine, although the plant may still be adjusting to northern hemisphere time.
Its also possible that both species normally start their new growths before any appreciable rain. The reason that they are thought of as being rot prone Is too much early water when the new shoots are young. Chadwick already recommends not starting to water warscewiczii until the new shoots are four inches (10cm) tall.
So maybe these three species, that all grow in a similar area, all benefit from this delay in watering. Time will tell! William will find out this season about rex. I will probably delay watering my dowiana well until the new growths are well underway. I will watch the older bulbs and look for any stress.
The climate data also showed that the minimum temperatures that these species received was about 20c with a max of 30c year round. No drops in winter. This could also be a reason for rot. I don’t know many people that run a greenhouse with a minimum of 20c. However for us indoor growers, it’s much easier. Getting the temperature to drop can be the issue. So maybe these species are easier indoors. Time will tell.
Fingers crossed!
David
Last edited:
