Cattleya wallisii is found in Brazil, where it grows epiphytic in the Amazon wet forests on tree branches (at least 10 meters above the water)...
Cattleya wallisii also called as Wallis' Cattleya, Cattleya of the Golden Land, Cattleya crocata, Cattleya eldorado, Cattleya eldorado var. wallisii, Cattleya guadircolor var eldorado, Cattleya labiata var eldorado, Cattleya macnorlandii, Cattleya trichopiliochila, Cattleya trichopiliochila var. virginalis, Cattleya virginalis, Cattleya virginalis var. rosea, Laelia wallisii, is a species of the genus Cattleya. This species was described by Jean Jules Linden ex Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach in 1882.
IDENTIFY CATTLEYA WALLISII ORCHID PLANT
Cattleya wallisii is found in Brazil, where it grows epiphytic in the Amazon wet forests on tree branches (at least 10 meters above the water).
Wallis' Cattleya is a medium sized, hot to warm growing epiphyte with smooth, cylindrical, 15-20 cm long pseudobulbs carrying a single apical, rigid, leathery, erect, about 20 cm in length and 5 cm in width leaf.
Cattleya of the Golden Land blooms in the summer and fall on a terminal, short inflorescence carrying 1 to 3 fragrant flowers that do not open well. The flowers are color from white-pink to light carmine shade, about 15 cm in diameter. Sepals oblong-lanceolate, 7 cm long and 2.6 cm wide, with green pointed tips, upper sepals slightly concave. Petals are ovoid or elliptical in shape, wavy along the rim, with rounded tips, 6.5 cm long and 4.5 cm wide. The lip is triple, folded into a tube, inside of which a column is hidden, in the general shape ovoid, 7 cm long and 5 cm wide, inside the orange-yellow, and on the anterior part often (but not always) has a carmine-red spot, wavy along the rim is cut by a fringe. The column is white, on the tip slightly brownish, about 3 cm long.
CATTLEYA WALLISII 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 wallisii loves bright sunlight and is able to tolerate direct morning and evening sunshine (25000-35000 Lux), however, in hot summer noon on windows of southern orientation it should be protected from direct sunlight, by placing it behind a curtain (for example, on a table near the window) or in the shadow of other plants, otherwise the orchid leaves can get sunburn. 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. When growing a plant all year round in a southern window, as a rule, there are no problems with flowering. If there are no southern windows in the house, it is strongly recommended that in the autumn-winter period, in addition to natural lighting, use artificial light lamps.
Temperature:
This type of orchid refers to a moderately warm temperature regime, and throughout the year the plants are recommended to be kept under the following temperature conditions: Day temperature is up to 30 ° C; Night temperature is not below 15 ° C. To successfully grow at home, it is necessary that the night temperature of the content is always 6-10 ° C lower than the daytime temperature.
Humidity:
In their 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 wallisii 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 (the norm 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 begin to grow their own roots, which often occurs after the flowering of the plant.
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 or 1/3 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 wallisii undergoes a short rest period, when the plants contain a few drier and colder than usual and do not fertilize. Since mid-November, these orchids are placed on the lightest of the possible (for autumn) places and contain at a temperature of 18 ° C day and around 15 ° C at night. Watering the orchids should be coordinated at relatively lower temperatures and produced only slightly when the substrate does not just dry very easily, but at least 14-20 days will be completely dry, when growing the plants on blocks, to avoid deadly drying of the roots once a week lightly sprayed from the spray gun. With the advent of new shoots (usually in February), the dormancy period ends and the watering of the orchids resumes in the usual volume.
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