Cattleya dowiana is found in Costa Rica and Panama, where it grows epiphytic on trees at an altitude of 500 to 1400 meters above sea level...
Cattleya dowiana also called as Dow's Cattleya, Cattleya dowiana f. carmoniana, Cattleya dowiana f. rosita, Cattleya dowiana var. rosita, Cattleya labiata var dowiana, Cattleya lawrenceana, is a species of the genus Cattleya. This species was described by James Bateman & Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach in 1866.
IDENTIFY CATTLEYA DOWIANA ORCHID PLANT
Cattleya dowiana is found in Costa Rica and Panama, where it grows epiphytic on trees at an altitude of 500 to 1400 meters above sea level.
It is a medium sized, cool to warm growing epiphytic orchid with clavate, 8 to 20 cm tall pseudobulbs with distinct ribs when too dry, partially concealed in young with basal sheaths that paper and shred with age and a single, fleshy, oblong-elliptic, light green, conduplicate, apical, 23 cm long and about 6 cm wide leaf.
Dow's Cattleya blooms in the late summer and fall on a terminal, 12.5 cm long, 5 to 6, flowered inflorescence arising on a mature pseudobulb with short lived, fragrant, very showy flowers. The flowers are yellow, sometimes with a small share of carmine patches on the petals, about 14 cm in diameter. Sepals long-lanceolate, measuring 7.5 cm long and 2 cm wide, on the tips bent back. Petals are rhomboid or ovate, wavy at the edge, measuring 7.5 cm in length and 6 cm in width. The lip is triple (the division is not clear), folded in the form of a chicken, inside which is covered a column (sometimes the edges are disconnected and can be seen), along the edge is divided into two parts, wavy, with denticles densely covered with golden veins, sometimes forming a kind of large spots. The column is arched, about 3.5 cm long.
CATTLEYA DOWIANA ORCHID PLANT CARE AND CULTURE
Cultural information should only be used as a guide, and should be to be adapted to suit you. Your physical location; where you grow your plants, how much time you have to devote to their care, and many other factors, will need to be taken into account. Only then can you decide on the cultural methods that best suit you and your plants.
Light:
Cattleya dowiana loves bright sunlight and is able to tolerate direct sunlight (50000-70000 lux), acquiring a lighter shade of leaves and pseudobulbs. Bright sunlight is one of the main prerequisites for flowering orchids of this species, and if lighting is insufficient (especially during the development of new shoots), then the blossom will simply not bloom, as new pseudobulbs grow underdeveloped, i.e. incapable of flowering. During the whole year, the duration of the light day should be at least 10 hours, ideally 16 hours.
Temperature:
This type of orchid refers to a moderately warm temperature regime, and throughout the year the plants are kept under the following conditions: Summer temperature at 25-35 ° C day and about 18-20 ° C at night; Winter temperature is not below 16 ° C. For the successful cultivation at home, it is necessary that the night temperature of the content is always 6-10 ° C lower than the daytime temperature.
Humidity:
In the natural habitats, the relative humidity of the air rarely falls below 70%. In conditions of high humidity, it is necessary to regularly ventilate the room where the plants are kept, since wet, stale air is an ideal medium for the mass reproduction of various fungal and bacterial diseases.
Substrate, growing media and repotting:
Cattleya dowiana is usually grow in pots and hanging lattice baskets, and placed on blocks. The substrate must be very well breathable, therefore the mixture of the bark of coniferous trees with charcoal and sphagnum moss (20-25%) is best in its quality. When growing orchids on blocks to prevent rapid drying of the root system of the plant, it is recommended to make a small interlayer of moss between it and the block. Above the roots, you can also put live or dry sphagnum.
Repotting is desirable only when it is really necessary, for example, in cases of severe salinization or condensation of the substrate, at its critically high or low pH (a rate of 5.5 to 6.5) or , when the plant will grow very much and the pot will become too small for it (pseudobulbs will begin to hang from the edges of the pot). The best time for transplant is the time when new orchid sprouts reach a size of 5 cm and begin to build up their own roots.
Watering:
Watering this kind of orchids directly depends on the overall temperature of the content, the higher it is, the more often and abundant it is necessary to water. Plants growing on blocks, it is desirable to water daily in the morning, so that by evening their roots could dry out relatively well. When watering orchids in pots, it is necessary to remember that excess water during watering should flow freely out of the pot, as the stagnation of water both inside the pot and in its pallet can very quickly lead to rotting of the roots and the lower part of the plant. The substrate between waterings should dry well.
Fertilizer:
During the new growth period, this type of orchid is fertilized every 2 weeks in 1/2 of the fertilizer concentration indicated on the package. In addition to the usual root top dressing, it is also recommended to produce a foliar dressing, when a very much diluted fertilizer is sprayed on the outer part of the plant. It is best to feed the orchid, alternating both these methods. The best fertilizer is fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in equal parts, for example, NPK = 3-3-3 or 8-8-8. If you do not have such a fertilizer, then at the beginning of the growing season (the emergence of new shoots), feed the orchid with a fertilizer with a high nitrogen content, and when the sprout reaches 1/2 of its normal growth - fertilizer with a higher content of phosphorus.
Rest period:
In winter, Cattleya dowiana undergoes a short rest period when the orchid is kept somewhat drier and colder than usual and does not fertilize. The total temperature of the content in this period should be about 18 ° C in the daytime and not above 16 ° C at night. Watering the orchids is desirable to coordinate in such a way that the substrate does not just dry very well, but it was completely dry for about 10-14 days, when growing plants on blocks, they are slightly sprayed once a week to avoid deadly drying of the spray. With the advent of new shoots, the rest period ends: the total temperature of the contents rises, and the watering of the orchid resumes in the usual volume.
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