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Cattleya Tropical Pointer "Galaxy"

I find this Cattleya very interesting, mostly because of it's uncommon coloring and spots.
This post is long overdue since I got myself my young Catt. quite a while ago but since for my birthday I was gifted with another one everything in the world told me to do this ID entry, so here we go.








There is a whole family of the Cattleya Tropical Pointer, starting with "Amethysto"; "Cheetah"; "Suwada", and "Galaxy", but there may be some other which I couldn't find and identify and proper hybrids. This family shows a great variety from size: mini cattleya to very large one's. Also in color, from pale yellow/pink with magenta spots in case of the "Cheetah" to dark orange like in the "Galaxy".



The "Galaxy" itself shows to be a very good and strong grower, developing roots quickly and having a good rate of growth for the new bulbs, and from what I saw they can grow quite large and it will require a lot of space.



Like in the case of all Cattleyas the flowers develop from sheets that appear on the top of the mature leaf and the spike goes out from it. When the orchid is strong you can have a big spike with even a dozen flowers on it, that spread a wonderful fragrance in their vicinity.
 In this time it's best to fertilize to keep the orchid strong and provide it enough nutrients to hold the big spike.



"Galaxy" should be potted in a mix of coarse bark as most cattleya orchids, because of their thick roots that like to climb and a coarse medium is best for them, also won't cause them to root from over moisture. Also make sure the pot for your orchid is big enough as the roots like to have a lot of space to fill.
Furthermore always, but always remember: Never cut aerial roots that start growing upwards or outside the pot. This in no case doesn't mean the roots don't get enough moisture from the pot, but it's a normal growing habit of this plant.
Water when the potting mix gets dry and spray the surface very other day, not to much but just to keep some moisture on the aerial roots.



I want this Cattelya, now what?
The easiest way would be eBay for everyone in Europe, there is a seller that sells maturing plants from Madeira in Portugal, or Orchideen-Wichmann sells very big mature blooming catts.



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Some pictures presented in this article may not belong to me and are a property of their respectable owners.


Comments

  1. Unknown25 April 2019 at 16:04

    what a neat / clean description of this orchid.I bought one in 2010,now have 4 plus a few given to friends.All 4 bloom reliably 2 times per year here in S.W. Florida and develop a wonderful
    fragrance. Thanks for the ID

    ReplyDelete

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