My appetite had been piqued! The cattleya plant I bought for five dollars the year before had given me two handsome orchids with a minimum of care while sitting on my kitchen window sill.
What other orchid would grow in the house? A reliable dealer suggested Lycaste aromatica, not as big or showy as the cattleya, nor a hybrid, but still a charming small orchid.
The price wasn’t as much as a bunch of chrysanthemums, and on a warm day in June, my Lycaste aromatica arrived, planted in the bark in a 4-inch clay pot.
The long graceful leaves were a fresh green, produced in threes and fours from the little fat bulbs that resembled small cucumbers.
Taking Care of Orchids
At the library, I could find little about my orchid other than that it didn’t like too much sun. So I decided to put it on the bathroom window sill facing south and had a translucent glass.
Thus, it received shaded sun for about four hours of the day. I was never once bothered about the humidity problem, which is usually a ‘stickler’ with orchid plants. Still, occasionally I would spray it with a fine mist of water from a converted window glass cleaner bottle.
About once every week, I soaked it to the rim of the pot for about twenty minutes. Never allow a plant to soak for hours at a time.
Since this experiment was to see if this plant would grow in the house with minimal attention, I did not fertilize it. I was careful to see that the water I gave was not icy cold; no plant likes this. I did not concern myself with its temperature requirements either.
If it was hot, and some days it was, I tried not to worry about it or move the plant around. In the back of my mind, I felt this plant would thrive on neglect.
However, towards September, I wondered about my thinking. I noticed the leaves turning brown at this point, so I cut down the water. Afterward, I found out this was the right procedure.
Starts Growing in October
One cool day at the beginning of October, I noticed a fresh green tip emerging from under the bulb at the base of the plant. To me, this was a strange place for anything to start growing.
I assumed this was foliage, but it kept pushing up stubbornly, a green thing about the diameter of a lollipop stick.
And then I knew it was the flower spike! Within a week, the young stalk had grown 2” inches, and the bud had formed.
It was about 6” inches tall in two more weeks, and the flower bud was plump and bright yellow. Within two days, the bud opened slowly at first.
It Was a Pale Yellow Color
In another two days, it was fully opened, and the color had become amazingly yellow, butter yellow. The broad sepals stood out gracefully, while the petal and lip gave the impression of a sunbonnet in the center.
Each petal tip gracefully turned outwards, and the lip was stained orange and red. And the scent! A warm, wonderful spicy fragrance. I was overjoyed!
For weeks the flower remained fresh and vibrant; I was amazed at its keeping quality. And the scent of spices remained mild and pleasing.
I am now letting my Lycaste rest and will give it very little water until February or March when it will repeat its cycle.
44659 by Jack Kramer