# Cattleya (Sophronitis) coccinea dreams coming true



## BrucherT (Dec 11, 2021)

I’ve wanted to succeed with this plant for so long. I had given up ever managing it. They always died on me. In 2017, I could not resist trying again with a seedling from Hausermann’s open house. I mean, it was like $4 with the open house discount. Teeny tiny tuft of just-deflasked nothings. I just figured I’d gamble once again. I stuck it into my slipper terrarium situation, as you can see in the photos. The temps get into the 40sF in winter and 90sF in summer. I water about every 5-7 days, RO/K-lite. Leslie’s photos of his surprise Sophronitis buds made me check mine. It seems to have two leads and matures 3 growths per year and… oh my god, there’s a frickin’ BUD. I’m in shock. I’ve never even seen one blooming in person. I’ve never repotted this tiny thing from its original couple bits of bark and there’s LECA in it too. I wasn’t sure what size it needed to be to bloom, scale is always tough to gauge in photos, and most of the blooming plants appear bigger than mine. I’m just so excited to see this; I was craving Cattleya last year; turns out, I had one all along!


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## DrLeslieEe (Dec 11, 2021)

OmGosh, congrats!!!!


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## BrucherT (Dec 11, 2021)

DrLeslieEe said:


> OmGosh, congrats!!!!


Thank you thank you! I have no idea what I did right. Did the tiny flaskling just magically adapt to true conditions I gave it? Did I get lucky with a tolerant phenotype? I am just shocked. I ooze with envy at your collection, especially your cool tank. There is just nothing like a Sophronitis flower. Hausermann’s had 4N seedlings when I was there last month. I didn’t pounce. Now I’ll be trying for more! Such a tiny plant with such a huge reward. In my mind, your surprise led directly to mine. Now let’s see if she opens….


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## DrLeslieEe (Dec 11, 2021)

It’s like a proxy message was sent out over the comms to let all coccinea bloom in sync on ST! Everyone go check your babies! They might be in bud!!!

And such a tiny weenie to make a grown (wo)man cry too!!


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## abax (Dec 11, 2021)

Wonderful!!!! Don't you just love good surprises??? WOOHOO!!!!!!!!


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## BrucherT (Dec 11, 2021)

DrLeslieEe said:


> It’s like a proxy message was sent out over the comms to let all coccinea bloom in sync on ST! Everyone go check your babies! They might be in bud!!!
> 
> And such a tiny weenie to make a grown (wo)man cry too!!


LOL that’s honestly how it feels in here sometimes! It was helenae season, it was lowii season..,I have 3 really nice purpuratum will be fully open this week so maybe I can get those going too!


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## DrLeslieEe (Dec 12, 2021)

BrucherT said:


> LOL that’s honestly how it feels in here sometimes! It was helenae season, it was lowii season..,I have 3 really nice purpuratum will be fully open this week so maybe I can get those going too!


Yes stir my purpuratums up! Only one in 15 spiked and bloomed. The others need a kickstart lol.


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## BrucherT (Dec 12, 2021)

DrLeslieEe said:


> Yes stir my purpuratums up! Only one in 15 spiked and bloomed. The others need a kickstart lol.


Omg you have 15???? Tell me more!!!!! Report is good initial germination on my half-alba self pod… I think purpuratum likes a chill in early fall. I leave the windows open wide as late as possible. One of my 5 didn’t spike this year, I think due to scale over the summer.


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## DrLeslieEe (Dec 12, 2021)

BrucherT said:


> Omg you have 15???? Tell me more!!!!! Report is good initial germination on my half-alba self pod… I think purpuratum likes a chill in early fall. I leave the windows open wide as late as possible. One of my 5 didn’t spike this year, I think due to scale over the summer.


Yes 15 or maybe more lol. I got a batch of NBS from Sam of the half half album breeding. 

I do have them by the cold open window so let’s see!


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## Linus_Cello (Dec 12, 2021)

DrLeslieEe said:


> I do have them by the cold open window so let’s see!



How cold do your sophro. get? Why not put them with the bublo octopus flower-wine fridge?


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## GuRu (Dec 13, 2021)

Sometimes one needs such a nice surprise, Brucher. Good luck !


DrLeslieEe said:


> It’s like a proxy message was sent out over the comms to let all coccinea bloom in sync on ST! Everyone go check your babies! They might be in bud!!!..............



This said.......the magical LeslieEe !


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## tomp (Dec 13, 2021)

DrLeslieEe said:


> It’s like a proxy message was sent out over the comms to let all coccinea bloom in sync on ST! Everyone go check your babies! They might be in bud!!!
> 
> And such a tiny weenie to make a grown (wo)man cry too!!


I too am happy that my coccinea got the message:


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## DrLeslieEe (Dec 13, 2021)

Linus_Cello said:


> How cold do your sophro. get? Why not put them with the bublo octopus flower-wine fridge?


My cold wine tank has 10-12C nights and 22C days all year. 

The 15 purps are too big to grow in that small wine tank lol, so they stay by cold window.


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## DrLeslieEe (Dec 13, 2021)

tomp said:


> I too am happy that my coccinea got the message:
> View attachment 31122
> View attachment 31123


A beauty Tom!!


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## NYEric (Dec 13, 2021)

Nice.


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## BrucherT (Dec 13, 2021)

tomp said:


> I too am happy that my coccinea got the message:
> View attachment 31122
> View attachment 31123


I will be so happy if mine is half this nice! Yours is regular ploidy like mine?


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## GuRu (Dec 14, 2021)

DrLeslieEe said:


> A beauty Tom!!



Indeed it is !


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## tomp (Dec 14, 2021)

BrucherT said:


> I will be so happy if mine is half this nice! Yours is regular ploidy like mine?


Yes it is a standard. I believe it is a sib cross I got from QF.


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## cnycharles (Dec 14, 2021)

Congrats and
Woah; my screen is in flames from the color


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## Karp60 (Dec 14, 2021)

BrucherT said:


> I’ve wanted to succeed with this plant for so long. I had given up ever managing it. They always died on me. In 2017, I could not resist trying again with a seedling from Hausermann’s open house. I mean, it was like $4 with the open house discount. Teeny tiny tuft of just-deflasked nothings. I just figured I’d gamble once again. I stuck it into my slipper terrarium situation, as you can see in the photos. The temps get into the 40sF in winter and 90sF in summer. I water about every 5-7 days, RO/K-lite. Leslie’s photos of his surprise Sophronitis buds made me check mine. It seems to have two leads and matures 3 growths per year and… oh my god, there’s a frickin’ BUD. I’m in shock. I’ve never even seen one blooming in person. I’ve never repotted this tiny thing from its original couple bits of bark and there’s LECA in it too. I wasn’t sure what size it needed to be to bloom, scale is always tough to gauge in photos, and most of the blooming plants appear bigger than mine. I’m just so excited to see this; I was craving Cattleya last year; turns out, I had one all along!


Perseverance paid off.


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## DrLeslieEe (Dec 24, 2021)

How’s the bud developing?


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## BrucherT (Dec 26, 2021)

DrLeslieEe said:


> How’s the bud developing?


Seems to be going pretty well…I’m anxious about watering now. This is a plant I’ve just been dipping into the runoff bucket. I never do this with anything else. I honestly expected it to die, all along, especially after my previous Phragmipedium besseae flavum and regular besseae (both from Tom, gorgeous healthy seedlings, the killing is on me) died in my summer heat, crushing my soul forever. Now I’m watering it three times a week with utmost care! Here is the bud as of this morning. I should note that despite my low expectations, this plant has never appeared stressed in any way; temps in my windows get 90 - 100F during heat waves and this baby grows down in a high open terrarium situation. I don’t know the extent to which it’s just magically adapted for heat and/or I have unknowingly created a perfect microclimate. I take no credit beyond dumb luck but Hausermann’s has a bunch of newly deflasked S. coccinea and you can bet that I will be snapping some more up at the next opportunity. They’re not doing an open house this year, which breaks my heart. But then, here I am having missed Christmas due to a surprise positive COVID test (can’t figure out if I have actual symptoms or am just so sad about Christmas that I’ve taken to my bed), I guess it’s for the best. They do remain open to the public but they do not enforce masks and some workers don’t wear them so…I don’t know. Anyway, ramble over, here’s the bud:

I should explain the webbing; for the past two weeks, I’ve been finding tiny baby spiders all over the house. No idea where they hatched but they’ve appeared in every room. I’m both superstitious and softhearted and so they get placed among the plants. I know I have some scale here and there and I worry about mites, so I welcome these spiders’ work. Here’s hoping I make it to their spring release without regret.


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## SlipperKing (Dec 26, 2021)

After all the ramble I finally see the bud!LOL


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## DrLeslieEe (Dec 26, 2021)

Yayyy bud is doing well!


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## BrucherT (Dec 26, 2021)

DrLeslieEe said:


> Yayyy bud is doing well!


Should I have worried that it wouldn’t? I don’t have much experience blooming Cattleya or adjacent. I’m holding my breath. One thing I’m surprised about is the bud doesn’t look red. I’ve only seen these in photos and the color is so saturated that I can’t imagine such a pale bud. I guess there’s a flavum? But maybe the bud is just young.


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## DrLeslieEe (Dec 27, 2021)

BrucherT said:


> Should I have worried that it wouldn’t? I don’t have much experience blooming Cattleya or adjacent. I’m holding my breath. One thing I’m surprised about is the bud doesn’t look red. I’ve only seen these in photos and the color is so saturated that I can’t imagine such a pale bud. I guess there’s a flavum? But maybe the bud is just young.


Bud will be fine as long as you keep plant in same spot, as there shouldn’t be any extreme change in conditions. 

The bud stays pale pink yellow but opens orange red, deepening and getting saturated over 3-4 days. Then it expands in size over a week or two. 

Mine is still in good condition so far at the start of the 3rd week.


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## NYEric (Dec 27, 2021)

Spiders kill scale.


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## BrucherT (Jan 3, 2022)

Well, here she blows! Tiny and a bit bumpy, orange instead of scarlet but I CAN BLOOM SOPHRONITIS FROM FLASK! I love this plant and sure hope I can continue to please it. Maybe flowers will “improve?” But l don’t really care. I will try to grow more of these. I have a Cattleya (Laelia) lundii about to open and — might even plop them together just because.


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## NYEric (Jan 3, 2022)

nice. Good growing. I tested positive today. Weeeeee!


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## Guldal (Jan 4, 2022)

Congrats, Brucher! Nice to see your long term effort rewarded! 



NYEric said:


> I tested positive today. Weeeeee!


Sorry to hear that, Eric!
I presume, though, that the Omikron variety at the present is the most common variety also in NYC? In Denmark it has almost excluded the Delta variety with 93.6% of all positive tests being Omikron. It might be a comfort to know, that the Danish health authorities (SSI which is the equivalent to your CDC) now, based on data from studies from South Africa, England, Scotland and Denmark (we have at the moment the little flattering record of being the absolute hotspot in the world with the highest incidence of Omikron, i.e. the highest amount of new cases pr. 100.000 inhabitants) concludes with a high degree of certainty, that this variety has markedly lesser negative health consequences than prior varieties, when it comes to deaths, hospitalization and probably also long term sequalae!


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## GuRu (Jan 4, 2022)

BrucherT said:


> ..... orange instead of scarlet ........



Brucher, this is a great flower even if the colour of the flower does slightly differ from what you obviously expected.


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## GuRu (Jan 4, 2022)

NYEric said:


> ........I tested positive today. Weeeeee!



Sorry to hear this, Eric. I hope you won't have any complications.......On the other hand you will have time to contribute to ST from your own computer and if so....you will see my photos, too.


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## BrucherT (Jan 4, 2022)

NYEric said:


> nice. Good growing. I tested positive today. Weeeeee!


Dang I’m sorry. Hope you have no troubles.


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## BrucherT (Jan 4, 2022)

GuRu said:


> Brucher, this is a great flower even if the colour of the flower does slightly differ from what you obviously expected.


Aw thanks! It’s funny how I have it sitting in front of me at last and can feel anything other than delight. So, I’m back to delight! Thank you.


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## DrLeslieEe (Jan 4, 2022)

Congrats on the milestone! We both achieve the holy grail of Sophronitis ... to bloom a coccinea!!!

And it's a beauty!

From this I have ordered other Sophronitis species like brevipedunculata, riograndensis, pygmeae, and more cernuas and coccineas!


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## DrLeslieEe (Jan 4, 2022)

NYEric said:


> nice. Good growing. I tested positive today. Weeeeee!


Wheeee.... I assume you have your booster shot... in that case 5 day flu and you're all better.


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## BrucherT (Jan 4, 2022)

DrLeslieEe said:


> Congrats on the milestone! We both achieve the holy grail of Sophronitis ... to bloom a coccinea!!!
> 
> And it's a beauty!
> 
> From this I have ordered other Sophronitis species like brevipedunculata, riograndensis, pygmeae, and more cernuas and coccineas!


 Aw thank you Leslie, I’m screwed! lol. What about wittgiana? Remember, you have a whole cold tank! I just have an elderly apartment.

I really want a coccinea flavum as well…and a serious scarlet one. I’ll be shopping for tiny seedlings.I feel like that’s the difference here. It came out of the flask se Hausermann’s and the potting mix couldn’t have been more than a few days old, at most. Bright bark, roots starting to adhere. It grew up in my conditions and didn’t know any better but to bloom!


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## DrLeslieEe (Jan 5, 2022)

BrucherT said:


> Aw thank you Leslie, I’m screwed! lol. What about wittgiana? Remember, you have a whole cold tank! I just have an elderly apartment.
> 
> I really want a coccinea flavum as well…and a serious scarlet one. I’ll be shopping for tiny seedlings.I feel like that’s the difference here. It came out of the flask se Hausermann’s and the potting mix couldn’t have been more than a few days old, at most. Bright bark, roots starting to adhere. It grew up in my conditions and didn’t know any better but to bloom!


Oh yes I did get a few nice wittie divisions too. Let’s hope they survive to bloom in my cold tank!

Do get some more BT! So we can track our progress.


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## BrucherT (Jan 5, 2022)

DrLeslieEe said:


> Oh yes I did get a few nice wittie divisions too. Let’s hope they survive to bloom in my cold tank!
> 
> Do get some more BT! So we can track our progress.


In the past, I’ve tried mature or NBS plants. This was the first seedling and only because it was…I think $6? Or $4? Sale item. But spritely and I couldn’t resist.


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