Cattleya harrisoniana is found in Brazil, where the orchid grows epiphytic on trees or lithophyte on rocks in humid swampy areas at an altitude of about 700-750 meters above sea level...
Cattleya harrisoniana also called as Harrison's Cattleya, Cattleya brownii, Cattleya candida, Cattleya harrisoniana f. alba, Cattleya harrisoniana var. alba, Cattleya harrisonii, Cattleya loddigesii var. harrisoniana, Cattleya papeinsiana, Epidendrum harrisonianum, is a species of the genus Cattleya. This species was described by James Bateman ex John Lindley in 1836.
IDENTIFY CATTLEYA HARRISONIANA ORCHID PLANT
Cattleya harrisoniana is found in Brazil, where the orchid grows epiphytic on trees or lithophyte on rocks in humid swampy areas at an altitude of about 700-750 meters above sea level.
It is a cool to warm growing species with sub clavate, laterally compressed, up to 40 long pseudobulbs carrying 2, apical, narrowly elliptic to obovate, about 20 cm in length leaves.
Harrison's Cattleya blooms in the late summer on a terminal, short to 10 cm, 2 to 6 flowered inflorescence subtended by a green sheath carrying fragrant, long-lived, waxy flowers. The flowers are from pale to very saturated carmine-red, about 7-10 cm in diameter. Sepals elongated, about 6 cm long and 1.8 cm wide, sometimes with green tips, lateral-punching. Petals in their appearance can be both in the form of an ellipse, and ovate, measuring 5.5 cm long and 2.2 cm wide, slightly wavy along the edge. The lip is triple, the lateral parts are round, high-raised and on both sides close the column; the front part is wavy, the color is usually yellow, to the center orange, with pink veins, sometimes the edge has a light carmine-red color. The column is about 2.8-3 cm in length.
CATTLEYA HARRISONIANA 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 harrisoniana can tolerate up to 65000 lux without burning, but acquiring a slight yellowish shade of leaves and pseudobulbs disappear in the winter. It is the sufficient lighting that is the main factor that stimulates the coloring of this species. The light must be stable and bright. When in the summer - east, and in the winter - the south are ideal for the location.
Temperature:
The most suitable is day temperature is not higher than 26 ° C and night temperature 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:
Harrison's Cattleya need the humidity of 70-85%. 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 harrisoniana can be grow it in pots of light tones (so that there is no overheating of the roots) plastic or from unburned clay to give stability. Planting plants on blocks (covering the roots with sphagnum) makes sense only in conditions of high humidity of air, for example , in greenhouses. The mixture of the bark of coniferous trees with moss sphagnum, 20% peat and charcoal for disinfection has proved to be a good substrate. Moss and bark can be laid in layers: below the bark for drainage, and above the moss, or alternating layers.
Repotting is desirable only when it is really necessary. For example: If you water it with ordinary tap water, the pH of which is between 7.2 and 7.8, then over time, as a rule, for 2 years, a favorable pH of the substrate (5.5 to 6.5) also will jump to this index, and the orchid will not be able to absorb more useful substances, for example, iron, which means that it will start to lose its color in the leaves.
Watering:
The frequency and abundance of watering directly depends on the intensity of the light and the overall temperature of the content, the higher they are, the more often and more abundantly need to be watered. Watering should be organized in such a way that the roots of actively growing are always wet. The substrate between waterings should dry well, but no more than 12 hours is completely dry.
Fertilizer:
In the period of active growth, this type of orchids is fertilized every 10 to 15 days in usual or 1/2 of the concentration of fertilizer indicated on the package. In addition to the usual root top dressing, it is also possible to produce foliar dressing when the outer part of the plant (leaves) is sprayed very much with the diluted fertilizer. 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 fertilizer, then at the beginning of the growing season (mass appearance of new shoots), feed the orchid with a fertilizer with a large content of nitrogen, and after 40-50 days - fertilizer with a higher content of phosphorus.
Rest period:
In the natural habitat, the annual cycle is divided into two season: dry season which causes the daytime temperature to drop to 16-21 ° C, and the night temperature to 10-13 ° C and rainy season. Active growth and flowering fall on the rainy season, that's why Cattleya harrisoniana can develop without any periods of drought.
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