Sorry for the incorrect name, it should be Chia Lin.

Nick

I've had mine for three years and it came from an old division. I haven't checked it for a virus but it shows no outward signs on the foliage or on the blooms.

{{gwi:202254}}

I treat it like I do everything else and consider it could be virused. It is a vigorous grower and the fragrance is very strong.

Brooke

Hello, i will add my failure to the list. it slowly wasted away over a 4 year period. I got another one by accident (forgot I had one which passed on) and that also went. so, no more for me unless my memory goes again.
sue

On the other thread 'unbelievably beautiful' some one else weighed in with a fatality. Quite a few bodies littering the landscape. I have no idea what the normal rate of attrition is but will keep a close eye on my plant.

Nick

OMG, tonight at my OS meeting one of the guys had one with two blooms.....what an incredible beauty!!! Several people 'owned up' to having tried growing this catt and losing it. The guy that showed it says he only gets it and an older plant to bloom about every other year. I asked about the 'twice a year' bloom pattern that was mentioned in the other thread. He admitted he was not a record keeper, but that he thinks one of them has bloomed in the late spring. The plant he had this evening he purchased from an HD store as a 'baggie'.

HA! The plot is thickening. More failures of this plant coming to light.

I think it's pretty hard to kill a virus free Cattleya, I have a BLC Sea Urchin growing in a suspended old tennis shoe just to demonstrate to people that these suckers will grow anywhere. Its in full bloom right now. Some are obviously stronger growers than others, maybe 'New City' is not one of the stronger ones.

Nick

Before you attribute the belief the Chia Lin is a poor grower and is subject to collapse, you need to take into consideration how they are grown.

The one on the other thread was grown in upstate NY under flouro lights. More catts fail because of the environment in which they are being grown than a weakness in the plant.

Your friend that bloomed the one with the obvious virus could have contaminated the plant at his place and not had it occur in the cloning process. There are too many variables to consider before deciding it is a weak plant.

Brooke

I'm fully aware of this having killed plenty of catts myself. I just wanted to know if there is a flood of failed plants of this particular type. The number of responses at this point do not suggest anything is amiss.

Nick

Jane posted a photo of the fabulous Blc George King 'Serendipity' in another thread and no doubt many will be tempted to give it a try.

Well i have, with nil success and had a similar experience with various clones of Toshie Aoki. The plants never look happy, never flower and pine away and die. Sad! This happens in a very large collection of "Cattleyas". I suspect that they need more warmth than i can provide during winter.

So, there are probably a whole group of these "cattleyas" that might be a bit fussy about conditions.