Hi Sheila,

Other folks closer to you will know about the medium. I grow my Ctsae & Cycs in sphag & plastic, stabilized by clay pots.

Mine have been outside during the Mpls summers that had days of 100+ temps - E/SE light cut by 50%. They've loved it. Also, they can take Catt light.

Mine are almost soppy wet the whole season - drying slightly between waterings, till Nov. 15, when water's cut to 50% and tapered off till Jan. 1. Around Nov. 15, some people move their plants to bare root, so they can see the new roots in the spring. These directions are from Fred Clarke of Sunset Valley Orchids.

During the growing season, some fertilize more heavily, but I'm not clear what that means. For the sphag, I water w/ plain water one time, fertilizer water next, then leach & repeat.

The rule of thumb is 3 back bulbs for every new growth.

After Jan. 1, no water whatsoever till roots on new growths are 3"-5" long. Well, you read that recent thread of mine, so this may not be set in concrete. Exception: If a pb that's been plump starts shriveling, mist lightly till it gets plump again. Some throw their bare root plants in a closet or some such. These orchids don't need light during winter, but I keep mine out so I don't forget to check for pbs that might be getting too dry.

Others may have different methods for culture, esp. for warmer climates. These plants are pretty tolerant.

Not finding any pix of your exact cross or anything close. Maybe you'll be the trailblazer.

Post pix when you can. Hope this helps. Whitecat8

Here is a link that might be useful: Fred Clarke's culture for Catasetinae

I must repot the plant and I hate repotting. I guess I'll put it in spag. I assume I pot-up like any other orchid, just enough room for the newly forming growths to have space. Do you repot every year?

Every year, I repot everything except the Psychopsis in bark, which is repotted every other year. Of course, not everyone repots this often, so this info may not help you. :)

Has your plant already been watered this spring? If not, are any new roots long enough for the plant to be watered (3"- 5")?

Because so many roots on back bulbs die over the winter, you may be able to keep the plant in the same size pot. That's what's happened for me, anyway.

I'm excited for you, WC8

Curious...how did you win it?
Lori

Ooops, sorry about being vague on that point. Our OS has a raffle table each month. If you don't belong to an OS, you might consider locating one. It's the best way to gain knowledge about your plants. Hands on help from people growing in your same climate. Our Pres has a difficult time getting us to settle down for the meeting. We're so busy admiring the Show & Tell plants or just visiting with each other about our orchids.

I think most clubs have raffle plants. There are often sales tables too. Guest speakers will bring plants/supplies for sale. It's rare that I come home from a meeting without either a plant that I purchased or as last month, one that I won with the purchase of $5. raffle tickets. My car pool buddy won one plant and bought two at $7.50 each. $20. for three nice blooming size plants.

Belonging to an OS just adds another dimension to the hobby.

Yay for you, Sheila! It sounds like you have a good sturdy grouping of pbs to start you off. The Fred Clarke culture notes linked by WhiteCat8 at the bottom of her first post are the most detailed guidelines I've seen. They seem to cover just about everything.

I found Nothing Googling the "Altimar Soares" name (image and web) except a link to your own post, above. It is so unusual to find nothing, that I checked the RHS registry for some variation in the names.

Bingo! The cross is with Altamir Soares--just a couple of letters transposed. That still doesn't bring up any pictures, though. Sorry.

Sc

Wow, this is exciting. Wish I had more time. WIth the correct name, I at least found the parents of Altamir, Ctsm spitzii x Ctsm expansum. Donna Wise is Ctsm Orchid Glade x Ctsm tenebrosum. I haven't yet found the 'makeup' of Orchid Glade. This leads me to lots of green! Expansum is a gorgeous green, sometimes with brown/red interest. I can hardly wait to see this plant bloom. What with male, female & hermaphrodite blooms being possible on one inflorescense, I'm intrigued!

Sheila :)

Sheila ~ Sometimes you have to juggle the names a little, because people don't always copy them as they are registered.

If you go back to the Royal Horticultural Society orchid registry (url below) and put Catasetum into the Genus blank and Orchidglade (one word) into the Grex... sneaky, huh?! When the word comes up, click it, and as my kids say, "VI-Ola!"

Seed parent ~ Ctsm. pileatum

Pollen parent ~ Ctsm. expansum

That gets you very nicely right down to species (yay!)--some of these genealogies can go on ForEver!

Sweetcicely

Here is a link that might be useful: RHS Orchid Registry

Hi Sweetcicely. Thx for the URL & precise instructions on using it. I did eventially get to pileatum & expansum, but not near as quickly as using the RHS site. I've got it bookmarked!

Sheila :)