Cattleya - the secrets of growing and caring for orchids

Orchids are one of the most beautiful flowers on earth. Cattleya refers to their family, differs from other varieties of lip with unusual contours and contrasting color in relation to the coronet. Attracts the plant with magical flowers and a pleasant aroma, it can smell of lily of the valley, jasmine.

How to determine the Cattleya species?

Cattleya is a magnificent type of orchids, the color scale of plants is enormous. It has many varieties and their hybrids, which differ in shape and color of petals, leaves, the duration of the rest phase. According to the terms of vegetation, the plants are divided into:

• autumn;
• spring.

The former do not have a long-term rest regime, the latter rest for a long time before and after vegetation. Cattleya Orchid has a thickened tubular stem, on which are placed 1-3 fleshy silvery emerald leaves. On one peduncle, orchids grow to five large coronets of 5-25 cm, their color varies from white to dark purple. In the natural environment, there is a Cattleya of the epiphyte type, which lives on tree trunks, and lipophytic, living on stones. These factors are predominant in the maintenance of plants.

Cattleya Dinard

The famous hybrid of Blue Heaven - a beautiful variation of orchids, pleases with coronets of up to 20 cm. Such a cattleya has a blue flower with sepals and corrugated petals of heavenly or purple tones. The lip of the plant is purple with a corrugated edge, the throat is yellow-golden. Orchid Dinard has a deep pleasant aroma, blossoms in spring and autumn.

Cattleya Aklund

Orchid Aklunda is a dwarf plant growing in nature in Brazil on solitary trees near rivers. Such a cattleya, like a houseplant, attracts a low height - about 10 cm. It is equipped with rounded bulbs and two leathery leaf plates, the inflorescence consists of one or two corollas. Each of them has a size of 10 cm, they are fragrant, dense, long-lived. Cattleya Aklanda produces large greenish-straw flowers with chocolate-chestnut dashes and spots. The lip on the corolla is pink-white or reddish with light borders.

Cattleya Mix

A lot of hybrid plants are united under the name of orchids Mix. During selection, different species of Cattleya crossed with each other with multiple inter-port mixtures. As a result, orchids appeared with contrasts of petals and lips (for example, lemon wreaths with a burgundy center). In most cases, their ancestor is the Cattleya sponge. It has foliage up to 25 cm., Peduncles 10-15 cm. Cattleya has a color ranging from white to purple with different intensity. The lip is noticeable, darker, with reddish strokes in the pharynx, forming a wide tube with a curled edge.

Cattleya Maxim

Orchid maxim in nature grows in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador. It has elongated leaf plates elliptical in shape of 25 cm and a flower spoon of 18 cm. This lush orchid, the maximal cattleya can have up to 15 coronals on one stem. Its flowers are snow-white or lavender-lilac with purple-violet thin veins on the inside of the lip and a yellow stroke. The orchid has an interesting structure of petals - they are elongated-lanceolate, narrow, at the ends and along the edge they are arched back.

Cattleya Schroeder

Orchid Shreder - a beautiful diva in the realm of species orchids, the owner of many honors, was named after the German baroness - the wife of a botanist, who brought out this species. Cattleya Schroeder - a large flower, has a delicate pink-pearl color petals, a lip with a dark lemon or fiery interior and a sweetish smell. There is a white cattleya with a lemon core, a dark coloring does not occur in such a variety. Flowers of the Schroeder variety last longer than all other species orchids - about five weeks.

How to plant a Cattleya?

Orchids can be placed in any pot - transparent, made of plastic, unglazed from clay. Planting Cattleya - the basic rules:

1. The amount of capacity is selected from the calculation of the volume of the root system of the orchid, so that there is a two-centimeter gap along the sides of the vessel.
2. At the bottom of the pot are pebble stones 2 cm thick, on top - large parts of the bark or foam.
3. Then the roots of the orchid are placed in the vessel so that there is a lot of free space near the young shoots. They are sprinkled with bark of small fraction.
4. In one pot it is better to place about 5 pseudobulbs (bulbs) of Cattleya.
5. Plant an orchid in a vessel better closer to the growing side of the rhizome (rhizome) to the middle of the pot.
6. They dig in the ground only the roots of the Cattleya, the pseudobulb bases must remain on the surface. Next to them, you can install sticks to fix the plant, after it is rooted, they are removed.

How to increase the roots of Cattleya?

Sometimes orchids need resuscitation . Due to improperly organized care, due to a fungal or bacterial disease, it is simply because of old age that the cattleya can lose the root system. Resuscitation is to create favorable conditions for the re-creation of the plant. Cattleya without roots can not survive - they perform the function of fixing and searching for moisture. The peculiarity of the structure of orchids is that old sprouts in it die off, and new ones appear only from certain living kidneys (green and dry). How to increase the roots of the Cattleya:

1. The simplest way is daily soaking the plant in water. To do this, place the orchid in a pot without holes, pour half the capacity of water and leave the rhizome for 2 hours (before lunch).
2. Once every two weeks, a fertilizer with a high nitrogen content can be used for Cattleya.
3. The total duration of resuscitation of orchids can range from one month to a year.
4. After the development of new radicular sprouts, the Cattleya top dressing is stopped and the irrigation time is increased by 1 hour.
5. At this stage within 10 days at the bottom of orchids appear 3-5 young roots.
6. After reaching a length of 5-7 cm, Cattleya is planted in a narrow pot. Water it should be so that the substrate between the moisturizing well dried up.

Cattleya - care at home

Tropical flowers will certainly please with beautiful buds, the main thing is to provide them with the necessary conditions for growth and development. Cattleya Orchid - home care:

1. It should grow in a very lit place. You can judge the abundance of the sun for the Cattleya by the leaves of the plant. If they are pale yellow, then the light is excessive, if the dark - a little. A healthy cattleya has rich green leaves. In winter, you can use additional fluorescent lamps.
2. The usual room temperature is comfortable for Cattleya. During the preparation of orchids for flowering, the difference in temperature between day and night air should be within five degrees.
3. Modern types of Cattleya to air humidity are unpretentious, they like it if in warm weather the pot is in a pan with water - they immerse air roots in it.

Cattleya primer

The basis component of the substrate is a crust of small and medium size. Before planting, it must be rinsed and soaked for two days to soak up moisture. Then drain and rinse in clean water. The substrate for cattleya is added with finely chopped foam and moss sphagnum for good air permeability. If the room is dry air, in the pot you can add a little perlite - it retains moisture. During the growth of the Cattleya, with the appearance of the peduncle, they can be fertilized, the composition of the feeding should include calcium and phosphorus in a minimal proportion. During rest they are not used.

How to water Cattleya?

The frequency and abundance of humidifying orchids depend on the intensity of illumination and the time of the year. How to water Cattleya:

1. The need for moistening is determined by the state of the substrate, it is allowed to dry well. The optimal periodicity of watering for the Cattleya is 1-1.5 weeks.
2. It is desirable not to wet the plant itself, but to lower the root system to room temperature water for 1-2 hours.
3. The liquid should not fall on young Cattleya sprouts, otherwise they will start to rot.
4. In winter, the frequency of moistening orchids is reduced, and in summer can increase as needed. The lower the temperature, the more cattleya absorbs water. For example, if during the rest period on the balcony at night 10 degrees of heat, you can completely refuse from irrigation - just spray the substrate.
5. In the heat of high-quality water (rain, distilled, distilled) Cattleya sprinkled entirely.
6. Once a month it is appropriate to arrange an orchid with warm watering from the shower, and hold the substrate under the tap for cleaning.
7. When water gets on the foliage of plants in the cold season, it should be wiped dry, so that brown spots do not appear.

Cattleya transplantation

Orchids do not tolerate such a procedure very well and are restored for a long time. But it is necessary every 2 years because of the growth of the bush and the need to change the soil. How to care for a catlei during a transplant:

1. Before the procedure should be determined - to divide the plant or not. It is better to leave about 5 pseudobulbs per pot.
2. Cattleya is transplanted at the beginning of the growing season, after new shoots in the plant reach a length of 2-3 cm.
3. The pot should be tight, drainage should be placed in the bottom.
4. After extracting the plant from the vessel, the rhizome is cleared from the old substrate. The strongly wrinkled pseudobulbs of the Cattleya are removed. Rotten or dead (soft, brown) roots are cut off.
5. Cattle cuts are treated with foundation powder or charred with charcoal.
6. Earth mixture is composed of particles of pine bark and moss.
7. The plant must be displaced from the center, so that the frontal pseudobulb can develop and establish a support so that the cattleya can be held straight;
8. The roots of the orchids are covered with a fine bark.
9. After manipulating the plant, it is better to pour a foundation solution (2 grams per liter).

Cattleya - home care after flowering

Orchid pleases with magnificent coronals in adulthood, for this it needs sun and proper watering. Cattleya flowers in spring, autumn, even in winter, depending on the variety. After this, the resting mode begins, its meaning consists in the absence of any activity, then the flower rests and accumulates strength. If rest is not enough, the Cattleya may not blossom. Depending on the variety, the rest period may occur in different seasons, but often it occurs in winter. Cattleya after flowering - care:

1. It is necessary to put the orchid in a cool place with dim lighting. Direct UV rays are undesirable for Cattleya, otherwise they can blossom.
2. It is not necessary to fertilize an orchid during rest.
3. Watering the Cattleya is scarce every 14 days so that the bulbs of the plant do not wither or shrivel.
4. Irrigate the orchid at this time is not necessary, so as not to rot.
5. If the Cattleya blossom at the end of winter or in the spring, the rest period of the plant will begin in the autumn.