I'm certainly no expert with orchids but I bet they will say that there is too much pot for the size plants that you have. And, watch the sun levels as the leaves from the peach tree drop. You may need to find an evergreen limb to hang them from. They have grown nicely since I saw them last.

What type of fertilizer are you using? When I attended meetings with the DeLand Orchid Society they recommended Dynamite.

It'll be so nice when they bloom. They have a beautiful flower.

Congratulations, Michael, on your new orchids! I will have to look up the royal orchid club.

This is a great time of year to acclimatize orchids to the outdoor environment. The sun is not as strong, and they will be less likely to burn as they adapt to the location. I don't know how much sphagnum moss you put in, but remember that it tends to stay wet much longer. Make sure you don't overwater, as this is by far the most common cause of orchid death! In general, twice a week is usually enough, and once weekly in the winter. Also, water only in the morning so the plants can dry out thoroughly before nightfall or cool weather (otherwise they can get bacterial or fungal diseases). I can't tell by the photos, but are the rhizomes exposed on the surface? The top halves of the rhizomes should all show with no media on them, so they don't stay wet too long and they won't rot. It is very important not to plant them too deeply. I also can't tell from the pics, but I assume those are orchid pots with lots of drainage on the bottom.

The second from the left looks like a phalaenopsis? Can you tell us their names? That will help in knowing how to take care of them. Phalaenopsis can take a little more moisture and needs less light. Is the one on the left a brassavola? If it is, it will be the easiest to rot (water less), and can take quite a bit more light than the phalaenopsis (put in the most exposed area).

Like all plants, too much fertilizing will make orchids more prone to pests and diseases. I barely fertilize mine, and always weakly. Actually, I barely water mine (the other extreme!).

Lastly, do not fret about killing them. We have all killed our share, but learn from each casualty and each success. You will be an expert before you know it! Enjoy them. So far they look great!

Anna

If you have them potted and growing you have passed the most critcal stage. You need to be especially careful about watering until they are well established. Misting the leaves with a weak fertilizer solution once or twice daily for at least a few weeks after potting is better than soaking the roots. Overwatering is the the #1 killer of Cattleyas.

Over fertilizing is probably #2. You get weak soft growths that flop over and get diseased and kill the whole plant.

Over potting is another no-no. The media stays wet for too long after watering, and the roots can't find anything to latch on to.

The worst pest, IMO, is scale. The ones that infest the leaves are a nuisance, the ones that get under the sheaths and attack the base of the psuedebulbs are deadly.

Dark green leaves mean your plants need more light, but move them into a brighter spot gradually, with caution.

Once established and growing outside in light shade they are quite happy, and being epiphyites they never complain about the humidity.

From looking at your picture are you sure the one on the left is a cattleya?

Lots of good advice here but would like to add one more thing. It looks like the second one from the left maybe a phal and if so you might want to move it. If water (rain) gets into the crown and stays there at night it can kill it. You can hang it so that the water drains or put it under cover where you can control the water.

@christine: these are the smallest pots i could find. the grower (hicks--he's probably the one who spoke at the orchid society meeting--he says he or his son attends regularly) said they'd work, but to be careful about overwatering. that's in part why i used such a fast-draining mix. no perched water table here! i like these pots a lot--the fact that i can see how much humidity is in the pot is very useful. i've been watering only when i could see no condensation on the inside of the pot. and, yes, it's dynamite.

@anna--i went out and checked on the rhizomes. some of them were a little submerged--i GENTLY tugged them up above the medium line. i only added a tiny tiny amount of sphagnum, which i whizzed in the food processor. it's more likely that the dyna-rok will cause me problems, i think--it is pretty interesting stuff. looks like a tiny sponge. yes--i agree, they don't look much like catts, but they've been crossed lord knows how many times. they came with tags and reference numbers and i've looked them all up on the royal orchid website--they're all catts. i guess there's the chance that they've been mislabeled, but i trust not.

the one that you ask about is Cattleya Yellow Bird: "Blc. Marquette Canary 'Yellow Bird' (Southern Bells x Golden Embers) Beautiful Yellow with a white edged lip. Fall Bloomer Flower size approx. 4 - 6" across"

your advice about killing them is dead on! $5 per plant seemed like a reasonable risk to take on. if they die, so be it.

@johnjsr--i've never had scale in my garden, and i hope that luck holds out. what do you use to treat scale? should i worry about orchids attracting scale where it's never been? from what i know about scale, it has a lot to do with poor air flow... that shouldn't be a problem where these are hanging.

is anyone else growing in all-rock medium like me? hicks, the commercial grower i talked with and bought my media from, said that this mix was close to impossible to overwater with. he also said he's never had trouble with salt buildup.

Hi Michael,

Orchid nomenclature is so complicated. A Blc. is a brassolaeliacattleya- an intergeneric cross between brassavola, laelia and cattleya. All these genera are considered to be in the cattleya 'alliance'. From the look of your plant (the one on the left), the leaves most resemble a brassolaelia (a bl.). There is a plant by the name of bl. yellow bird. I have had this plant for many years and it is one of my favorite specimen plants. It usually blooms around Christmas. I feel like this is more likely to be your plant. Google both your name and bl. yellow bird and compare the shape of the leaves and see what you think. This is a photo of my plant from a couple of years ago.

You are right that scale is more likely to come with an air circulation problem or with overfertilization. It is much less likely you will have a problem with it outdoors. I would not worry about it.

Anna

um wow anna that is one AMAZING ORCHID wow i hope one day mine grow up to be like yours!

Some of the growers I've talked to swear by Neem oil spray for scale and lots of other problems. I've used that from time to time. For a severe scale problem like Boisduval scale a systemic like imidacloprid is usually recommended. My problem with this came as a "gift" attached to a plant I bought from a grower. I lost a lot of plants before I learned how to treat it. I hope you never see that problem.

John

Here is a link that might be useful: Boisduval Scale

Michael, this one can take lots of morning sun, err on the side of underwatering it (brassavola types resent staying wet), and it should be big in a couple of years. It can be a vigorous grower. Fertilize weakly and infrequently.

Anna

Hi Anna
I really like your Yellow Bird. What a beautiful speciman
plant! That would have won a ribbon if you had put it in a show.
I tried to look it up on the RHS website to see what was the parentage. I found it after some searching, then I remembered your comment. "Orchid nomenclature is so complicated". It is, and it is more so now. Your plant is no longer a Brassolaelia, It is now a Brassocattleya. They have renamed a lot of Cattleyas and Laelias and they are applying those names to the hybrids, something they didn't do in the past. Even my LC Canhamiana which was made in 1865, is now Cattleya Canhamiana, because they renamed Laelia purpurata to Cattleya purpurata. So you'll have to learn a whole new nomenclature. :>( I'm too old to change. ;>)
john

Hi John,

The parentage of this plant is Bl. Richard Mueller 'OC' x B. Nodosa 'Mas Major'. I bought a tiny plant (about the size of Michael's) in 1992. By 1998 it had grown into a monster specimen. I showed it at the Manatee River Orchid Show in early 1998 and not only did it get a ribbon, but it was awarded an AM of 82 points and a CCM of 83 points. I got to name it- Bl. Yellowbird 'Jajobean' AM/AOS CCM/AOS. The awarded plant was actually larger and fuller with many more flowers. This is one of its progeny.

When I first started growing orchids I was into showing them at shows. This went on maybe 6 or seven years. I got tired of it and stopped because some of my plants would come home with diseases and suffer. One time they got thrips and I brought them home to my greenhouse. What a mess. Now all my orchids are neglected and I have maybe a quarter of what I had then. I still have the first plant I ever had (a gift). I almost never get anything new... only the old ones that get recycled occasionally. I have not been to a show in years, so I am not surprised that they continue to change the nomenclature. It seems they always are changing it. To me, it will always be a brassolaelia.

Anna

Anna,
I used to go to a number of Orchid Shows and I have been to the Manatee show, but I don't remember when. Nevertheless let me offer a belated 12 year old congratulations. ;>) An AM, AND a CCM, I'm impressed. As for the RHS and their taxonomy, ok, but why change the nomenclature of hybrids that are 125+ years old? I'm not changing my tags.

Thanks, john

Hi
What a great idea to keep tags on your orchids !! Unfortuneately all my Catts wre given to me by a lady who moved away in 1982 .About all I'm sure of is that they are hybrids. So I call them the green, purple, purple and white
and one that goes from a deep magenta to a silver gray lol
Now the ones I got from Anna did have tags which I promptly lost!! Oh well they are still just as pretty as noids lol gary