Orchids are basically parasitic plants that live on and with trees. They originally come from South America, but quickly made friends all over the world because of their fascinating appearance. The Cattleya species enchant with large flowers and magnificent colors.

The Cattleya Chia Lin is one of the most beautiful Cattleya species

The general description of plants

The most striking thing about cattleya orchids are their flowers. These are divided into oval sepals, broad petals and a three-lobed lip. The flowers are monochromatic or mottled and have colors in shades of red, green, white or brown.
A distinction is made between one- and two-leaf species, with the two-leaf Cattleya being used for indoor culture because more flowers develop here.
As with most orchids, enough light is required for the Cattleya to flower. However, they do not like direct midday sun. A normal room temperature is well tolerated. Water vigorously once a week and fertilizer every two weeks. Water can be nebulized with a spray bottle to achieve the required humidity. With these conditions, the Cattleya should thrive well on the windowsill.

The Cattleya in the open air

Normally orchids are kept in the room. However, Cattleya can also stand outdoors. Here the location should be in the semi-shade. The leaf color shows whether the plant is getting too little or too much light. Dark green leaves indicate a lack of light, yellow-green leaf color means too much light. If the orchid gets sunburned, the leaves show black and dry spots.

Beautiful species of Cattleya and their hybrids (plants without seed formation)

From the approximately 45 species of the Gattleya genus, many hybrids have been bred that are unparalleled in beauty.
Some examples:

  • Cattleya Williette Wong, with large, yellow flowers, flower size 12 cm to 15 cm, total height up to 25 cm
  • Cattleya Floweringsize, flowers with different shades of blue, up to 18 cm in size, total height about 25 cm
  • Cattleya Chia Lin, with ruffled pink flowers, the flower lip is yellow and shaded pink, flower up to 23 cm in size, height of growth about 30 cm
  • Cattleya Angel Kiss orange, small flowers, up to 12 cm, total height between 20 and 25 cm

Category:

Indoor plants