Orchid Society of Southern California / Discuss

epiphyte78    says:

A couple days ago a friend asked me about Cattleya forbesii. From personal experience I don’t know too much about it. Last October I purchased one via Craigslist…it was pretty cheap but in need of some TLC. I mounted it and it survived last winter’s low of 33F no problem. It put out a new growth, has steadily put out new roots and is now trying to put out another new growth.

Here’s what I know outside of my personal experience…John Ellsworth (San Gabriel, CA) and Pat Rowland of the Rowland Collection (Garden Grove, CA) have grown Cattleya forbesii outside year around. Robert Friend in his book “Growing Orchids in Your Garden” recommends it for Southern California. Anybody in this group have any experience growing this orchid outside year around?

Here’s some info derived from my orchid literature and from the orchid culture website…

Distribution
Brazil, along a narrow strip of the Atlantic coast. Occurs in the following states...

Rio de Janeiro
Sao Paulo
Santa Catarina
Parana
Rio Grande do Sul (possibly in the past)

Approximate Latitude Range
22°S to 28°S

Habit
Primarily epiphytic and occasionally lithophytic

Habitat
Coastal Tidal Swamps, Streamside Forests

Elevation
Sea level to 200 feet

Average Temperature Range
60F to 85F

Known Minimum Temperature
28.4F (ref. 5)

Rain
70 inches / year (ref. 6)
88.2 inches / year (ref. 3)

Humidity
60% to 80% (ref. 6)
76% to 82% (ref. 3)

Light
Somewhat shady

Associated Species
Cattleya guttata
Catasetum hookerii
Oncidium flexuosum
Bifernaria inodora

References
1. Growing Orchids Outdoors in Southern California. Susan M. Stephenson. AOS magazine.
2. Growing Orchids in Your Garden. Robert G. M. Friend
3. Orchid Culture website.
4. Orchidaceae Brasiliensis. G. F. J. Pabst, F. Dungs
5. Orchids of Brazil (The World of Orchids 2). Jim & Barbara McQueen
6. The Brazilian bifoliate Cattleyas and their color varieties. J. A. Fowlie
7. The Bifoliate Cattleyas of Brazil - The Intermediae. Barao Anton Ghillany. AOS magazine.
Posted at 4:32PM, 25 October 2009 PDT (permalink)