These are very easy to grow Cattelya Alliance plants.

The first thing is not to worry too much. Most Cattleya can do well in less then ideal light levels for the winter if you are able to increase the light (such as putting outside for the summer) during blooming season.

Light levels specified for orchids is the level needed to bloom consistently. Much less light is necessary to grow them and even less to maintain them healthy.

There are two major color types of Apple Blossom -- the back of the petals and septals on the yellow form is the same color of an apple peel

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I grow mostly intergenerics and have just been trying catts because I have limited light. I have found this to be a vigorous grower in the light I have, the newest leaves have a reddish tinge around the edge so I think it is getting good light.

Try it, watch the plant leaf color and it will tell you if it has enough light.

Here is a link that might be useful: appleblossom

This is a beautiful and floriferous catt. I think you'll have good luck with it! Happy growing.

Sheila :)

Thank you for all the words of encouragement!!! I hope mine does as well as has been said. The leaves are now light green so I will try to moniter light levels and keep them that way. They are lovely!!!

I grow mine at my south facing windowsill in the winter, right up against the glass. It spends the summer outside, getting a lot of good morning and late afternoon sun. It blooms in late winter. This is a bi-foliate plant. Check the axils of the leaves and look for tiny "sheaths". These appear in late summer and early fall, and sit there all winter doing nothing. And then suddenly they come alive, buds peak through, and they bloom.

Orchid 126, unfortunately I have no good window sun in the winter.I am going to attempt growing this under a 45w cfl about 6 inches above it. I am so glad you told me about the stalled sheaths as I have noticed 2 growths in the past few days. From what I have seen these are definately worth waiting for! Thanks! :)

T-Bred, A little tidbit on this intergenetic... It was bred with drought tolerance so make sure not to over water especially in the winter months. Sounds like your on the right track with the indoor growing but if possible set up your CFL's above it in a window for best results, the more light the merrier(thanks Arthur.). Apple blossom can take upwards of 3500-4000FC before it burns with slow acclimation to those levels( The leaves do get a nice plum tinge).

Thanks for the insight on Iwanagara. My husband gave me 4 for Valentine's Day nearly two years ago - one has just finished reblooming and I'm not sure why one and not the other 3. Any insight on why some leaves have turned black and dropped? Looks like a virus but could it be too water?

A question: has anybody ever had this plant bloom more than once a year? Mine blooms faithfully around the end of March each year (except for hurricane years). But never any flowers at any other time.
Perhaps vandaceous orchids have spoiled me!
Regards - Nancy

I have read everything I can find but still can't find the answer to my question. I have an Iwanagara Apple Blossom orchid that is fairly small. I bought it in a 2.5" pot which it is still in. It has about 5 pseudobulbs of which 2 are pretty good size. The length of the bulb where it starts to swell to where the leaves start coming out are about 3" There is a sheath in each of the 2 good size pseudobulbs but are reddish purple color not a green color. In the bigger one I can see a little bulge on the bottom of the sheath but that is about it. The sheath is not very big and doesn't grow very fast. In fact I think it is stalled. I keep this plant right up against a South kitchen window with no obstruction in front of the window. When there is no sun out I put the plant under a CFL bulb that is equal to a 100 watt incandescent bulb. We have a humidifier on our furnace and so our humidity in our house is about 50-60% but more over the kithcen sink. Could somebody please tell me if this is OK for the little sheaths to be red and not green? Am I giving it too much light? Too little light? The leaves and pseudobulbs seem to be doing just fine and getting some new roots. Thank you very much for any answers you can give me.

Sharon

Hi Sharon -
I've probably sunburned almost everything, so am somewhat expert on that (sadly). These plants do well in bright light but protected from strong mid-day sun. To some extent, the color of the foliage is dependent on not only light but the plant's genes - some plants turn pale green in bright light, others turn more reddish or purple-ish (I forget the name of the red chemical that does the same function as chlorophyll - cyanomelanin?).
Regarding the size of your plant...my larger one blooms every year, but I have also had a seedling/NBS plant in a 4" pot for several years; 9 p'bulbs, and it hasn't bloomed yet. But this spring, fer sure. Cattleya alliance orchids seem to grow slowly for awhile, then suddenly grow dramatically.
Regards - Nancy

petite orange:

Thank you for commenting on my post. I guess I should have started one of my own because there isn't anybody that seems to be answering my question. Actually I wasn't talking about the leaves. The two SHEATHS inside of my leaves are red. Sort of red purple and they are not green. Do you think they are sunburned? Were your sheaths green the whole time before blooming? You are lucky to have had one of these orchids bloom. I sooooooooo want to have one of these plants bloom. Are the flowers really fragrant? Maybe I will just have to buy one in bloom somewhere. Thanks again.
Sharon

Hi Sharon -
I suspect that your plant will have darker (pink) flowers; that's probably why the sheaths are darker. My flowers are very pale yellow, almost white, so the sheaths are pale, too. The cultivar is 'Hihimanu.'
The scent of these flowers is strong in a warm room - like ripe apricots, and very wonderful. My plants get not so much a typical sheath like most cattleyas, but a flattened pointy growth, arrowhead-ish. That's why I think my 'seedling' is finally going to bloom.
Anyway, I don't think sunburn is usually concentrated on one spot, like the sheaths, so as long as the plant looks good and the new growths are firm, don't worry about it.
You will put photos here when it flowers!
Regards - Nancy

Sharon, I had several Apple Blossoms that I was able to bloom for two years. I had both the Golden Elf and the white/pink ones, and got both types bloomed. Once they got going, they bloomed on every new growth.

But they are definitely spring bloomers. As someone above said, they sit there with that sheath and buds in it all winter not doing much.

I personally wouldn't call a spike "stalled" unless it was supposed to be developing fast right now and wasn't. A spike that is following it's natural way and waiting for its season isn't stalled, it's just waiting out the winter. Your sheath will develop some, but hold off it's run until spring is definitely here.

Like grannie said, the AB is floriferous *and* easy. A graceful and beautiful flower. You will love it.

About fragrance: among mine, the yellows were more fragrant, but by dnoze isn't always reliable.

PS Both parents are also spring bloomers.

Glad to hear the experience - mine made it's first sheath after 2 long years of bad culture and 1 excellent summer outside. Hopefully this one will bloom in the spring although the sheath is small so I doubt it will be a productive sheath.

Sharon - mine is a pink type and the sheath is tinged slightly reddish on the edges too.

How large are sheaths typically before you can tell they're not a dud?

Calvin-- they just sit there, and then one day you think-- is that fatter? And they just sit there some more and one day you think, yes it's fatter. And then they just sit there and one day you say, hey is that a little dark thing I see there? etcetera, etcetera, etcetera

Disclaimer: that's how mine treated me-- a dance of the veils with the veils flashing at you, but staying on a long time.

Mine were so slow all winter I had given up on them the first year before they suddenly decided to make their run. They do fatten up a little in winter, but can't remember exactly when. Think it was later on, closer to Tksg-Christmas. Even after fattening up they still take their own sweet time. Last year mine bloomed in April, I think.

When I was growing catts, I kept my lights on a lengthening nights schedule for a couple of months, then started to lengthen the days in December. Don't know if it was necessary, I was just trying to cover all bases. That may have influeced how the spikes developed on AB.

It's a beauty, tho. Thirty two awards listed on Wiz

Thank you for all the comments about my Iwanagara orchid plant. PETITE ORANGE mine is supposed to be white with a yellow lip and pink to lavendar edges on the flowers. The name of it is Iwanagara Apple Blossom FANTASTIC. MEHITABEL thanks for telling me how long the sheaths can just sit and sit and sit. I guess I can relax now and just let it do its thing until spring. There is a little bulge on the bottom of the sheath but nothing else is happening. You are lucky you had a couple of different kind that bloomed. I think the flowers are soooo pretty. I just hope I can get mine to bloom this year and if not I guess I will wait until next year. CALVIN ORCHIDLOVER As I stated above mine is supposed to be a white one. FANTASTIC is the name on the tag. I think it looks like one of the pictures on the top of this thread. Good luck with yours blooming although you already had one bloom. As it the same kind you have now? But you said it took 2 years until you got a flower. WOW I hope I don't have to wait that long. Thanks again everybody for the comments.

Sharon

Sharon - I remember that one! For some reason I remember it being called 'fangtastic' instead of 'fantastic' sometimes...is that a common typo? I tried searching on the RHS for this cross but couldn't find any iwanagara I must be using the search wrong.

I've never bloomed an Iwanagara before actually - this is the first time I've seen a sheath, so I'm in the same boat as you! I'm pretty sure I have the same one as you but I'll have to check the tag as well. I did get my plant pretty small - only 1 fat pseudobulb and some old shrivelled ones..I was shafted when I bought it! But since then it's grown 2 more good pbulbs.

How big is your plant and how big is the sheath? Mine is only a centimeter or so across and 3 cm tall (1/4" by 1") so I think it's a dud, but we'll wait and see!

Calvin, 'FANGtastic' is the name Norman Fang of Norman's Orchids uses for special orchids he selects to carry the Fang name. Just a pun on his name that probably gives him a grin.

But it's a special cultivar, Like Carter & Holmes uses 'Mendenhall' to mean "selected as one of the best by C & H". The 'Fang' cultivars are usually pretty nice, I'd say, so you've got a really nice one there.

The typo here is 'Fantastic', believe it or not.

Calvin, My Apple Blossom is from Hausermanns Orchids. If you go to www.orchidsbyhausermann.com and click on the Online Catalog it will bring up a page with all their orchids. On the top left click on Search and then type in Iwanagara and it will bring up the orchid I bought from them. Mine is the second one on the list. Actually it has the same name as the second picture posted on the top of this page. Yes I have seen the fangtastic posted too, but I didn't know what the difference was until Mehitabel just posted all that info. I learn new things every day reading here. So you haven't bloomed one of these yet either. Then we ARE in the same boat. My plant has two really fat and good size bulbs, 2 medium sized and 3 new smaller ones. The sheath on the biggest bulb is only a little over 1/2" tall and about 1/4" wide. The second bulb has a sheath about 1/4" tall. Then one of the medium bulbs has a sheath just starting. So it sounds like your sheath is a little bigger than mine. The pot I have it in is small, 2" or so tall. The plant itself is about 11" tall. Now it curves over of course so If I could straighten the leaves out it would be a little taller. We will have to post when our little plants bloom so we see how we did.
MEHITABEL - Thanks for all the info on how some plants get their names. When you said that "Fantastic" was a typo did you mean I typed it wrong. I am very new to this site and actually to orchids so you will have to forgive me if I am dumb about these things. I am trying to learn all I can.

plantlovr: No, I didn't mean you typed it wrong. I meant when you see Apple Blossom 'Fantastic' on a label or in a catalog, whoever wrote it probably thought the Fang was a typo and "corrected" it.

Hi all:

The correct spelling for this genus is supposed to be Iwanagaara (note two a's towards the end). These complex hybrid names are sometimes somebody's last name (e.g. Iwanaga) with the suffix -ara tacked onto the end. Lots of folks drop that second a. Also, the grex name was registered as Appleblossom (all one word). Now, because the RHS has recently changed names on a variety of Cattleya alliance species, this plant shows up as Leonara Appleblossom there. OrchidWiz shows it as Pittara Appleblossom. Nuts! No matter what, this is a great plant; when I had one, the 'Fangtastic' clone, it bloomed very well, once a year in the spring, with a great fragrance. To all who have one - Enjoy!

Here is a link that might be useful: Appleblossom info from RHS

Thanks for that, philohela :D