Catasetum carolinianum is found in Brazil, states of Maranhão, Tocantins, and Goiás. It grows on palm trees in dry ground at elevations of 100 to 300 meters above sea level.
Catasetum carolinianum also called as The Carolina Catasetum, is a species of the genus Catasetum. This species was described by Francisco E.L.de Miranda & Kleber Garcia de Lacerda in 1992.
IDENTIFY CATASETUM CAROLINIANUM ORCHID PLANT
Catasetum carolinianum is found in Brazil, states of Maranhão, Tocantins, and Goiás. It grows on palm trees in dry ground at elevations of 100 to 300 meters above sea level.
It is a small sized, hot growing epiphyte with clustered, fusiform, 10 cm long and 3.5 cm wide pseudobulbs enveloped by deciduous sheaths and carrying 7 to 8, arched, oblanceolate, pseudopetiolate, 20 cm long and 4 cm wide leaves.
The Carolina Catasetum blooms in the summer through fall on a male, arched, racemose, 30 cm long, basal, to 15 flowered inflorescence with lanceolate, stem clasping bracts and resupinate flowers. The male flowers are 2 cm in diameter with coloration of peduncle and pedicels green; sepals rose-green with many small rose-brown spots; petals of the same color, with larger spots, wider transversally, but fewer in number; lip green-white with whitish callosity at the apex, spotted with rose-brown toward its base; anther green-white. The female flowers are not seen.
CATASETUM CAROLINIANUM 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:
Catasetum carolinianum are sun-loving plant and needs a light level of 30000-60000 lux. Unless the strong air movement found in the natural habitat can be duplicated, however, the grower should provide some shade (40-60 % shade). This species can be grown under lights if sufficient light intensity can be provided, and the plant certainly can be summered outdoors if their moisture requirements can be met.
Temperature:
In their natural habitat, the climate is evenly hot, moist, and tropical. This climate is almost the same year-round, with high humidity at night, even in the dry season, which is relatively short. The nighttime temperatures rarely fall below 18°C, with daytime highs generally from 29 to 35°C. The important thing is to maintain evenly warm conditions, and for this orchid the closer the night minimum is to 21°C, the better the plants will respond.
Humidity:
The Carolina Catasetum tolerate an environment with 40 - 60 % relative humidity during their growing season, but for optimal development of new growth and flowering, 70 % is recommended.
Substrate, growing media and repotting:
Catasetum carolinianum can be grown in pot, container or wooden basket with fir bark, osmunda, tree fern fiber, charcoal, and sphagnum, in various proportions or combined with still other ingredients such as sponge rock, perlite, leaf mold, peat, and bark screenings as substrate. This plant can also mounted on wood. This option presupposes that the plant is sufficiently strong, that it is not so large as to be unwieldy when hanging from its mount, that the grower can provide adequate humidity for it during the growing season, that the conversion to mounting is done at the very beginning of the growth cycle, and that the species is known to adapt readily to this cultural practice.
It is recommended to repot every year and never wait more than two years. The optimal time for potting or repotting is when new growth on a plant emerging from dormancy is about 5 cm tall and the nubs have developed into new roots that are reaching for support.
Watering:
In its natural habitat it receives rainfall frequently even while dormant. Mounted, basket-grown, and unconventionally potted plant may be watered every sunny day during the growing season, provided conditions are such that they dry off relatively quickly. In the case of conventionally potted adult plants, it should not be necessary to water more than once or, at most, twice a week. This species like to dry out at least slightly between waterings.
Fertilizer:
Fertilize with an appropriate formulation at least every week during the growing season, or fertilize with a weak formula every time the plants are watered. It is important to begin regular applications of high-nitrogen fertilizer (such as 10-5-5) with a full range of trace elements. As the leaves begin to unfurl, and well before flowering, add a high-phosphorus formula to develop big, strong pseudobulbs capable of producing robust inflorescences. Any of the soluble products with a large second-digit number (for example, 3-12-6) constitute a good source of phosphorus.
Rest period:
Catasetum carolinianum have a relatively short dormant period between leaf fall and new growth, and sometimes no dormancy at all, so the likelihood that at least some of their basic root system will survive from one growing season to the next increases. For this reason it is desirable to maintain a watering schedule, albeit reduced, during dormancy.
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