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Dumb beginner question: cattleya cross blooming
Hi everyone,
I have a blc/pot cross which was supposed to reach blooming size 2 or 3 years ago. Back in May I posted about it because it seemed to be growing another leaf out of the centre of one of the shoots. People responded that sometimes an orchid that is not quite mature will start a sheath & then abort it, & I have pretty much ignored the thing till recently. It looked like a flat leaf, about as long as the main shoot (about 7"). Through the fall this mutant "leaf" began to turn yellow, then brown, & it has finally dried out & looked dead & papery. The tip of it was starting to turn a bit black. It also puffed out slightly & was full of air. Finally last night I peeled it open to see what was going on, & lo & behold there is a teeny little curly thing about half a cm long, right in the bottom of it that looks like it might want to become a flower spike ... I've never had a catt bloom before so I'm not sure what I'm looking at, but all this definitely sounds like the thing is going to try to flower after all, from what I read in my orchid guide about flower sheaths. So, forgive the dumb questions, but what I'd like to know is, Is it supposed to take that long for a flower spike to start, or is this still a case of the not-quite-mature orchid needing extra time to get it going? Isn't the sheath supposed to be full of spike before it turns brown? Have I screwed anything up by peeling it open so soon? I didn't pull it off; it's still there, just not sealed on the edges anymore. Should I be fertilizing still? I have Schultz all-purpose 10-15-10 liquid which I used to use, & Schultz orchid 19-31-17 powder which I switched to when I finally found some on a trip away (you can't get anything orchid related where I live). I've been using the orchid powder, not very accurately measured but diluted. The plant lives in an unshaded south window which I moved it to over the summer. Thanks for your help! Alison |
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