Cattleya dowiana

[@karlawoods2098]

Thank you 🌸

[@EdsOrchids]

You’re welcome 😊Karla and thank you, Ed.

[@michelleslifeonrepeat]

Thank you for your insights.

[@EdsOrchids]

My pleasure Michelle....if it helps someone then making the video has been worthwhile....thank you and take care, Ed

[@andreaallum8859]

Some nice information and a good video plan looks good speak to you soon

[@EdsOrchids]

Thank you Andrea for your comment......I'm pleased you enjoyed the video, Ed.

[@FernandaNascimentoOrchids]

Great information, your dowiana looks wonderful 👌❤️

[@EdsOrchids]

It's good to see new growths coming along, by the end of the year it should, if I continue to do things correctly, become a very handsome plant. Take care, Ed.

[@KarinsOrchids]

Thank's Ed! Interesting and super- informative video as always. This is the exact care guide Iwe been referring to when having a dowiana sitting in bark media. It grows an abundance of new roots , the next month the roots take a rest, 2 months later the roots start to branch out again with green tips...and the cycle repeats itself ! The black rot took all my dowiana seedlings in the past and it occured simultanously with them beeing newly repotted, fuzzed about with their roots, perhaps dumping a few roots and then getting to damp... Yours look healthy enough and by the colour of its leaves one can tell its recieveing enough levels of light! Lovely root growth! 😍 And yours is from the northen part of Columbia!

[@EdsOrchids]

Thank you Karin for this very informative comment. You're quite right about the roots of the dowianas going and coming bouts.....in fact cattleyas produce new roots every year and let the others die off. I pot them in a large bark which gives the roots plenty of room to breath and lets them dry off within a couple of hours after watering. How do you know the regions from which my dowiana comes.......that is a very interesting statement!! Ed.

[@KarinsOrchids]

@@EdsOrchids Hi Ed! I read it in an old orchid book! The less vibrant ones comes from the norten part of Columbia and the aurea type comes from the southern part of Columbia, what the ones from Panama and Costa Rica looks like it didn't say! 😀

[@NinjaOrchids]

There are more ways to skin a cat 🤣🤣 i w9nder where that saying even came from! Rhetorical question... I really don't want to know how it came about 😅 thank you, Ed, so much for your nuggets of information! The stop fertilising when sheaths appear is super interesting... that could be the key to getting them to bloom, because 'now they have to do something to survive'! Very interesting, Ed thank you 👍🏼👍🏼 and for your time and support doung these videos! Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday 🌸

[@EdsOrchids]

Having a very nice lonely do what I want day Nina....cleaned the golf clubs for 9 holes on Tuesday morning!!! Thank for your very nice comment. It's a pleasure to join into these collaborations and it's good of you to ask me to participate. Thank you again my friend, Ed.

[@irengeorgia9789]

Thank you so much for sharing this video ! Very healthy and beautiful plant.Happy growing! Have a great sunday!

[@EdsOrchids]

Thank you Iren and may I wish you all the same thoughts, Ed.

[@stephenorchids4943]

Hi ed great care video there's more then one way to skin a cat lol👍

[@EdsOrchids]

Just a matter of saying that there are no solid a fast rules in orchid keeping...if what your doing works for you then stop trying to improve things by reading or listening to someone else's point of view. Ed.

[@stevenkirincich2397]

Great to hear about your thoughts and experiences with a challenging species. A recent discussion from an online orchid forum discussed the possibility that although we often attribute root problems to problematic, persistent exposure to moisture, the problem may be more about media that does not allow for proper gas exchange? I am in no position to endorse semihydroponic culture conditions, but the reported results suggest that roots seem to thrive in such moist conditions because the chosen inert media is coarse and provides considerable open space around the roots. Of course we hear more about the success stories and less about the failures of a particular cultural technique, but I enjoy the prospect of challenging long-held assumptions. If persistent moisture were the sole cause of problems for some plants, one would think that the semihydroponic technique would never be successful. I have also heard that orchid roots often adapt to their environment, and perhaps this explains that air roots struggle after repotting and being stuffed into the new media. This environmental adaptation has been observed with phalaenopsis plants grown in water. Do roots adapt to shockingly damp conditions because the conditions are consistent rather being a cycle between wet and dry?

[@EdsOrchids]

I agree that we all have differing methods of agriculture and I've used hydroponic culture for Cattleyas. I found that they did very well for roughly18 months at which time the roots began to die. I came to the conclusion that it was undoubtedly caused by the roots not being allowed to dry out. I do think that most plants need their roots to dry out for limited periods during their lives especially when growth isn't at a premium. I would like to see the plant which has been in contact for ever in wet conditions ( exept Phrags and Disas of course ) which has been grown from seedling to maturity. As you know most orchids are epiphytes and need air as well as water. Many thanks for your interesting comment....thank you and take care, Ed.

[@MattbyNature]

This is a great video - thanks a lot. We use the same brand of grow lights. And it’s nice to see that not only mine has its leaves flopping all over haha. Hope what you spotted there is indeed a sheath.

[@EdsOrchids]

Thanks Matt.....I'll keep my fingers crossed for the sheath. Take care, Ed.

[@MattbyNature]

@@EdsOrchids you will keep us updated, won’t you? Haha

[@catherinedinh1837]

Good morning Ed. Beautiful plant you have. I wish to see the blooms when Dowiana is in action . I'm sure you'll have a video of it. Can't wait. Thank you for sharing your beautiful orchids. Catherine.

[@EdsOrchids]

I think if I can get this to flower you'll become sick of seeing it.....I'll be showing it for days on end!! Thanks for your kind comment and, as usual, take care, Ed.

[@suethompson6497]

Hi Ed, I have always wanted to grow one of these but now I think I will content myself with watching the flowers from yourself and the others in this care collaboration. Hope you have had a lovely weekend in the sunshine. Take care.🌸

[@EdsOrchids]

Lovely weather Sue ..I hope you are enjoying the summer like conditions. If this one ever flowers I'll be singing from the rooftops. Take care Sue and thanks, Ed.

[@2702foxy]

Hi Ed fellow Dowiana grower here in Uk, agree with them liking to dry out. I have 7 Dowianas ( and 51 Dowiana primary crosses) and they all have very thin roots compared to other species cattleyas. Can’t wait to see one of these bloom in UK that will make me more hopeful that one of mine will eventually bloom. All off my plants apart from one Aurea came from South American countries so they are slightly confused at the moment on what time of year it is 😆

[@EdsOrchids]

That;s quite some collection foxy and I hope they will all do well for you.....I couldn't cope with so many these days. How did you manage to get them over here from South America??? Once they get settled in they become one of the most vigorous growers of all Cattleyas. Nice to hear a new voice from the UK. Ed.

[@tinajordan6591]

A very informative video Ed. I have a tiny seedling in a pot with a lot of holes I made with soldering iron. I grow mine in a south facing window, temps range from 17 _22c humidity about 50% when I water it takes a few days for the roots to dry out Maybe I should use a fan to dry it out quicker?

[@EdsOrchids]

The fan would be a very good idea Tina....I have one running all the time in the indoor room....your plant should do fine with the conditions you have stated. If you could possible get it three degrees higher and a higher humidity it will reward you with some good growth. Once these plants get settled in they are one of the most vigorous growers. Good to hear from you, Ed.

[@Muffin21814]

That's one I don't have in my collection yet.

[@EdsOrchids]

This is one of those Angraecums which should be in everyones collections.........thank you and take care, Ed

[@TrishsOrchidLife]

Love the information. I also find it interesting how orchids we have always heard need wet/dry or stay dry for certain length can be grown successfully in semi-hydro or self watering. But as you said “More than one way to skin a cat”. As for the stopping of fertilising once sheaths appear, would that be other Cattleya as well?

[@EdsOrchids]

Growing these is a matter of experimenting with the different conditions you can provide for them....just something you have got to find out for yourself. I wouldn't like to try and cultivate these in semi-hydro where the roots are always in contact with water.....but it would probably work for someone. Thank you and take care Trish, Ed

[@TrishsOrchidLife]

Yes me either on cultivating! I am going to try and stop the fertilser with my other cattleya once they show sign of possible bloom. Experiment with it as you suggest! Thanks Ed! Have a wonderful rest of your Sunday.