Cattleya aclandiae Lindl. 1840

A specimen from Brazil; it is blooming on a window-sill of my friend Tadeusz Wozniak. He has got green fingers and everything he touches is blooming.

Next blooming started at the begining of August 2006:

Cattleya aclandiae LINDL. 1840 In a natural habitat this species is found on the territory of Brazil, in the state of Bahia, which is famous for waterfalls. It is an epithet. It grows on a bark of old trees. This petite plant, almost a miniature reaches 15 cm. Mature pseudobulbs [swollen stems that support the leaves] can reach 6 to 8 cm in diameter and 8 to 10 cm in length. Usually it has 2 leaves, sometimes 3. They are egg-shaped, elliptical, 9 cm in length and 5 cm wide. They are also succulent. The bud is not capsulated. Usually flowers appear in twos. In this case (first blooming) a small stalk bears just one flower. In relation to the size of the foliage the flower appears big, 8 to 10 cm in diameter. My propagation tips: In order to get a quickly blooming specimen, I advise to gently remove our ’baby’ from the bark, onto which it is attached (usually we buy small specimens reproduced from meristem), and place it in the pot filled with bark substrate (granules 6-10 mm). After a short period of quarantine (adaptation to the new environment), we make sure the plant has plenty of sunshine. We do so until the leaves change color into purple-red. We use plenty of water and fertilizer. Very soon new roots and new pseudobulbs will appear. Remember: nothing grows without water! This species needs a very humid environment. My plant is placed on the window-sill. During a summer season the exposure to sunlight is between 2pm and 7/8pm. The humidity is not high. For these reasons I adopted a method of delivering water to the region of roots. I placed the plant with its pot, into a bigger container, in such a manner that the edges of both pots are at the same level, we can achieve that by fitting a cube of Styrofoam on the bottom of the bigger container. It is impossible to use too much water in this kind of cultivation. The excess of water will flow through the bark substrate and the Styrofoam cube; and finally will settle on the bottom of the external pot. In that way a reservoir is created to produce moisture. Evaporation starts. Water vapour will flow through the chink between two pots, as well as through the holes of the internal pot to the roots delivering the accurate moisture. C. aclandae which was cultivated this way has been producing three pseudobulbs per year. I bought the plant in 2003. The pseudobulbs were 2.5 to 3 cm in height, with approximately the same length of leaves. Every next increment was bigger. It bloomed this year (the end of May, 2006). Remember, that during the winter rest period we should reduce watering, not to stop it. I should add that C.aclandiae surprises by its different visual image. It does not resemble its botanical cousins, and for sure, it does not bear a likeness to the precious forms of Royal Orchids, called so because of their pastel colours. It maintains only the subtle scent, a little wild tiger. It catches your heart. I recommend it! (text: Tadeusz WoŸniak)