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Post by Brian Barnes on Aug 26, 2009 15:48:32 GMT
Hello Friends, Here's a few shots of a friend's C. beteroniana. It does have flower spikes, but they weren't quite open yet. Nice, very powdery/waxy leaves!  Enjoy, Brian.   |
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Post by calebkf on Aug 28, 2009 1:42:37 GMT
Wow(!), your friend certainly is doing a nice job with the Catopsis. I'm curious, is your friend using a standard bark:peat:perlite mix or something else?
Cheers,
Caleb
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Post by Brian Barnes on Aug 28, 2009 9:20:33 GMT
Hi Caleb, Yes, they are growing in what appears to be a classic epiphytic orchid mix, as you have stated.... Happy Growing, Brian. |
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Post by ltecato on Sept 13, 2009 4:18:39 GMT
How much sun do those plants get?
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Post by Brian Barnes on Sept 13, 2009 12:51:19 GMT
Hello!
These particular specimens grow in dappled sun/shade all day, much like what is seen in the photos, with brief periods of direct sun.
Happy Growing,
Brian.
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Post by shartmeyer on Apr 9, 2010 10:34:57 GMT
Last week the seed pots of all my Catopsis berteroniana started to open. The plants grow on an "epiphyte-tree" (birch tree branch) inside our new tropical greenhouse in full sun. This is the first time that I harvest so many seeds, does anybody have some hints how I receive the best germination for the seeds ? Here are some photos:     |
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Post by stevestewart on Apr 9, 2010 17:32:12 GMT
What a beautiful site!!  I have had the best success when I burn off the plumose appendages of the seeds and then sow on milled Sphagnum. The silky appendages are very flammable, so use care when burning them!! I have had problems with fungus when I leave the appendages on the seeds. Cutting would work, but takes much longer to accomplish. A shallow petri dish dries out quickly enough to prevent over watering. The seedlings are very quick to fungus, so I prefer several small containers rather than a few large ones. These thumbnail photos are old, but I hope you can see well enough after clicking on them to help you have success! germinating seedlings.  Freshly sown seeds after burning.  Take care, Steven Stewart |
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Post by shartmeyer on Apr 28, 2010 7:34:24 GMT
Thank you Steven for your helpful hints, especially as this is my first attempt to germinate Catopsis seeds. I feared to burn the seeds to hardly, so I pinched the fibers manually. The seeds have been sown on wet pure lava, mossy lava, clay-granules (Seramis(R)) and Sphagnum. After about 10-14 days now, all seeds are looking a little orange and swollen. I'll post a photo when germination takes place.
Steven, how long did you wait for visible germination, and did you later spray the plantlets with any fertilizer ?
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Post by stevestewart on Apr 28, 2010 19:30:15 GMT
I believe germination took from ~10 days to a month. The burning helped me to get more even germination at ~15 days.
I did not fertilize, and I believe it was a mistake. It is best to get the plants as large as possible before winter (short days). Fungus was the worst problem I had with seedlings and was less of a problem when the plants were larger size. I believe treating Catopsis much like Southern Florida species of Tillandsia is a good starting place for cultural technique.
I hope this helps,
Take lots of photographs,
Steven Stewart
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Post by shartmeyer on Jun 20, 2010 10:06:00 GMT
Success after two months of waiting! About 50% of the seeds sown on a lava-rock (standing permanently half way in deionized water) covered partly with a thin layer of algae and moss, started germinating last week (photo below). Since yesterday also some seeds sown on living Sphagnum start to germinate. All seeds have been treated one time with a diluted orchid fertilizer. I think in nature such a "start nutrition" is provided by the droppings of birds, which become distributed by rain on the tree branches. To keep the seeds permanently humid seems to be necessary, because I don't expect any germination on a mossy piece of corc oak, which dried out several times for a day or two. These seeds look somehow grey, instead of healthy orange-red like those which remained permanently humid or wet (photo below). I followed Steven's hint to remove the plumose appendages from the seeds. I simply pinched them manually instead of burning, however, I had no trouble with any fungi.   |
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Post by Brian Barnes on Jun 20, 2010 12:45:12 GMT
Excellent! Congratulations Sig. Looks like you are the proud Papa of many plants...  Happy Growing, Brian. |
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