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Rlc. (Port Royal Sound 'Big Red' x Chia Lin 'Shinsu #1')
The new growth on my Rlc. cross was turning a deep bruised purple, so I moved the cattleya to a lower shelf where it gets less light. This picture was taken a couple days after I moved it, and the pigmentation on the leaf has receded somewhat. I'll keep the cattleya on the bottom shelf from now on, with my phals. This way, I'm less likely to lose new growths to sunburn. The young orchid is still quite a few years away from blooming size, so I don't have to worry about getting sufficient light exposure to initiate flowers.
On an unrelated note: I am switching to using unfiltered tap water. Up til now, I've been using a Pur water pitchter to filter the water for my orchids. However, it takes a frustratingly long time to filter enough water, and those pitcher filters can get expensive. Since Manhattan water is supposed to be decently good, I'll see how my plants fare on tap water. My watering method involves soaking each pot/mount for 15-20 minutes, so I don't expect mineral buildup to cause me problems.
I use tap water now too. At the beginning I was collecting rain water, but then became too lazy plus number of orchids grew significantly, so I decided - whoever doesn't like tap water - is not for me. So far everybody is ok with it, even masdies.
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