How I care for my Catasetum macrocarpum and Ctsm. Karen Armstrong

Another video on another less commonly encountered Catasetum species.
ALL my orchids featured in my videos are grown outdoors year-round in a sub-tropical climate.
Most languages are available for closed captioning through automatic translations by TH-cam (check your settings).
The featured hybrid is Catasetum Karen Armstrong (Susan Fuchs 'Burgundy Chips' FCC/AOS x denticulatum 'SVO' AM/AOS)
Previous video on duration of dormancy
• Difference in duration...

[@patsfreund9164]

Always nice to be able to watch one of your orchid videos.

[@orchidhouse]

Thank you! You should join the Ft Lauderdale Orchid Society. We have a great group.

[@claramoreno8456]

I will love to be able to visit you one day... amazing plants 😊

[@Muffin21814]

Hello Oliver, The macrocarpum is unusual. I like it!! 😁👍

[@orchidhouse]

Glad you do! I do too and I love the fragrance.

[@bibicheknauf4163]

Another short, sweet and very interesting video. Thanks😍. By the way, it looked very stormy outside of your lanai but pretty quite inside😳

[@orchidhouse]

Most of my videos are short. I do not believe that any is more than 10 min long. I want to be to the point and not waste anybody's time LOL.
It has been very breezy for the past 2 days with gusts up to 35 mph!

[@svetlanatesler3381]

Thank you. Very knowledgeable video.

[@orchidhouse]

Thank you!

[@user-qe8vf3pu6v]

I notice you seem to buy a lot of plants out of the country. You must have good results in getting them in good condition even when dealing with importation. Any info and advice.

[@orchidhouse]

Buying from foreign vendors means much cheaper plants, plants that you don't necessarily find in the US but it also means a much higher mortality rate as the importation process is very tough on the plants. Those foreign vendors have to send the plants bare rooted, they have to be shipped by plane, be inspected by customs, brought either to an orchid show and then sold or mailed by the vendor to a buyer in the US. For plants that can't dry out (like the Stanhopea tribe), that is extremely stressful.
I have learnt how to help mitigate the stress to reduce the mortality rate and I get plants I can't find here. I happen to focus on species rather than hybrids and those are most available from the countries they come from. It is a choice and I accept the higher mortality rate as a consequence of that choice.
As far as advice is concerned, I have learnt that it is best to buy at the shows from those vendors and inspect the plants rather than pre-order them as you don't always get the best plants when you do that. But of course when you pre-order, you get exactly what you want whereas if you go to the show, you just get to choose from the plants the vendors decided to bring to the show which are usually more "vanilla"...Nothing is ever perfect.

[@user-qe8vf3pu6v]

Just to follow up with you about foreign growers let’s say you buy ten plants. On average of the ten how many would show up still alive and from date of order how long till you have them in your hands. I’m aware of Eucagenera but can you suggest other growers with websites that I can look at to get an idea of prices and plant types.
Thanks Olivier and keep making those informative videos. I enjoy them very much.

[@orchidhouse]

Thank you for watching my channel!
Most are alive on arrival (except for Paphinias and Houlletia which seem to really suffer a lot) but they die within days or weeks after arrival. In the early days my loss ratio was 50% to 75%. Nowadays, it is 50% or less for the Stanhopea tribe and Oncidiums and 0 to 25% loss for Catasetums and Cattleyas. The Oncidiums are tricky because if they don't have new roots it is tough to establish them and you have to water enough so they don't die but not too much as they rot so quickly and it can take months for them to grow roots!! Stanhopea tribe plants are traumatized by the extensive dry period they have to go through. They don't always recover from the export.
Below are the companies I buy from. Except for Ecuagenera or the last one, they don't have great websites or no website at all but they can send you lists of what they can bring to an orchid shows or mail to you.
Where do you live? If South Florida, Redlands and Tamiami are best options for foreign vendors.
The Brazilians are the best for Catasetums and Cattleyas. Ecuador, Peru, Colombia are the best for Stanhopea tribe, Oncidiums (including Trichocentrum)
I like Orquideas del Valle and especially Peruflora at the shows. They bring nice stuff.
All prices are much lower than in the US but US plants are established and loss ratio is much lower....
If you like Catasetums, Sunset Valley orchids is a must in the US. He has been selling more species recently (line breeding).
Ecuagenera (Ecuador)
[e-mail]
Orquídeas del valle (Colombia),
[e-mail]
Bela Vista (Brazil): Antonio Schmidt
[e-mail]
He is the best for Catasetums
Floralia (Brazil): Stephen Champlain
[e-mail]
He is the best for Cattleyas. My loss ratio with him has always been close to 0% and I only buy bifoliates which have the reputation of not tolerating repotting at the wrong time.
Peruflora:
[e-mail]
Orquídeas amazonicas (Peru)
[e-mail]
Ornamentales ledezma (Costa Rica). Magda Ledezma
They typically don't come to the US. They came last year at the bonnet House in Ft Lauderdale and my losses are 0% on all Stanhopea plants!
Not sure if they ship either but I will buy from them again if I have an opportunity. Good stuff!
[e-mail]
There is also a gentleman in San Fran named Gary Meyer with "Colombian Orchid Imports" who imports twice a year. My losses there are higher but a few plants are really great.
It is hit or miss.
[e-mail]
www.colombianorchidimports.com/catalog
Good luck!
@@user-qe8vf3pu6v

[@user-qe8vf3pu6v]

Thanks for the info. I used to live in the Riverland Road area of Ft. Lauderdale but have moved to Merritt Island (a barrier island) close to Kennedy Space Center in Brevard County in central Florida. I will research the growers you listed and if I have questions hope I can depend on your help. Thanks again Olivier. Hope I’m spelling your name right.

[@orchidhouse]

Yes you are spelling m name right 😊 and yes I will answer and help you to the best of my ability.