The Jewel Box orchid in bloom

I had to check my old orders to check how long I have this one. I ordered a young plant in 2016! Young plant means it will need about 2 more years to maturity when it is ready to bloom.
Well... my one took almost exactly 6 years. This is the very first time I see the flowers. Finally!

Sophrolaeliocattleya Jewel Box 'Dark Waters'

The name is a bit of a tongue twister. It is cross between
Guarianthe aurantiaca and Cattleya Anzac. It also can be found under Cattlianthe name. I am not sure which one is the valid now.

Cattleya types are known to like higher temperatures and more light and looks like they do feel good in my place (I have 3). They do have to dry properly between watering and do not mind stay dry for a bit. I do not treat them any different than my other plants and water them with tap water with some fertilizer when I remember.
They also seem to be taking my abuse quite well (forgetting to water for longer time). The pseudobulbs will shrivel a bit, but the will go back to their plump form after a proper soak.

Another cool thing about it is that it hardly gets any pests. I do struggle with trips from time to time on my dendrobiums. They do not seem to be interested in this plant.

To propagate it you have to split the rhizome between the pseudobulbs making sure there are at least 3 of them in each section. I am not planning to do that with mine though. I want it nice and big!
It is also possible to propagate though seeds, but it's almost impossible in home conditions.

As I mentioned I got it 6 years ago. It was a small, young plant, but I also made sure it is one of the smaller types. Cattleyas can grow damn big and I did not want that.
Since them it just grew. Every pseudobulb was bigger than the previous, but since I never saw one in real life (got this one online) I wasn't quite sure how big they have to be to be called a mature.





Now a little bit about how they grow: each new pseudobulb (the stem) will start to grow from the bottom of the previous one. When maturing, the new one will start to grow roots (this is the best time to repot them too) and slowly mature.
Most will produce one leaf (unifoliate cattleyas) or two leaves (bifoliate cattleyas). It does happen than the bifoliate will grow single leaf, but that doesn't change anything. It just didn't have the strength for the second one, or is not mature enough.

From between those leaves, when the cane matures a sheath will grow. This is where the buds start to form before they actually show up.





Back to my orchid: Last year I noticed a sheath forming and I was all excited to see the flowers. But the sheath turned dark brown and dried up. No flower. Oh well.. nice try, hopefully next time.

This year the newest cane was the biggest of them all and it also started to grow sheath. Of course I got all exited again (no, I don't need much :p ) and was looking forward to see the flowers open. Then one day I noticed it slowly turns dark. Again! And after a few days it dried up. Bollox! And no, I was not an exited happy camper anymore.





But wait... the sheath was getting kind of fat. Is there a bud inside after all?
Sure, I could google if this is what they do, though I was convinced they are not supposed to dry, but stay nice and green. My other plant also produces those, but they are so small, I don't even pay attention to them.

Some weeks later buds pierced the dry pocket and I started to see the colours. Boy oh boy :)
Isn't that just fucking gorgeous?





The flowers are quite large, about tennis ball size. No fragrance, but that's ok.

You can see the roots and the whole plant here. The leaves are thick and very stiff. They almost feel like they are made of thick plastic. Nothing bends and nothing moves.

Guess who was helping me this time...

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_{Shot with Nikon D5500 + Sigma 105mm lens
All photos and text are my own.}