Cattleya Orchid Care -
A Quick And Easy Guide

 

We are going to go into some detail about Cattleya orchid care. These orchids are probably the easiest to care for and like all plants need water, light and fertilizer. Playing some nice music or talking to them doesn't hurt either.

Most of the wild cattleya orchids grow in rain forests of South America, namely in Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Mexico. They flourish in the Andes from altitudes near sea level to high altitudes of 9 - 10,000 feet. These orchids are truly epiphytes or air plants. They are used to being partly covered by the canopy of the rain forest and get considerable humidity and bright light to grow cattleya. This is important to remember in the cattleya orchid care.

Being in the forest as noted they are used to diffuse light all be it bright light. Cattleya orchid care generally do not require direct mid day sunlight. It is bright light which helps them to develop hard pseudopods. The pseudopods are the orchids main way to hold water which is so important for their growth and life. It is from the pseudopods that the orchid flowers actually come from.

Being in the forest and at various altitudes there are a wide range of temperatures that these plants are used to. In the winter and higher altitudes these plants become accustom to temps which can go as low as 50 - 55 degrees in the winter and as high as 80-90 degrees in the summer. The care of cattleya orchids should have some temperature changes to help them grow and bloom. Temperature variations of at least 10 degrees between day and night are great.

Humidity is the friend to cattleyas. We can understand this from being in rain forests. Most cattleya orchids do well with being set on humidity trays. These are metal or plastic trays that are filled with pepples and then half full with water. The plant roots cannot sit in water for a long period of time or else they will get root rot. Allow for good air circulation but not sitting in direct aim of an air vent.

Generally, watering is important in the cattleya orchid care, so twice a week does well during their growth and flowering period and once a week during their period of rest. Cattleyas are orchids that can and should get dry between watering after blooming. This aids in the growth of healthy pseudopods. Be sure that the potting medium allow the water to drain out fairly rapidly.

To check to see if a plant needs water stick your finger about 1 inch into the potting material and see if it comes out dry or damp. If dry it needs watering. If damp it may be able to go another day or two without water.

When watering allow the water to flow into the plant and then drain right out into the sink and not into the humidity tray. You can let the water water flow onto the plant for about 30 seconds and the pseudopods will get enough water for storage.

If plants blossom in the winter or spring this means that these orchid plants deserve a rest period of about 6 to 8 weeks. During this time water them about once a week and keep the lighting the same.

If the plants blossom in the summer time no rest period is needed.

Fertilizing should take place about every other week with a balanced formula like 20-20-20. If the plant is flowering you can fertilize with a blossoming mixture with a higher nitrogen factor, e.g. 30-10-10.

With these rather easy steps of Cattleya orchid care you will get many years of joy with your plants.

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