This Tiny Orchid Produces Outsized Happiness
The cernua in my greenhouse.
In my recent post about mounting orchids on wood, I mentioned that I only have one wood-mounted orchid. I bought it at a Massachusetts Orchid show a couple of years ago, and I didn’t say anything more about it because it had never flowered or shown many signs of happiness. After I wrote that post, I made a concerted effort to water this orchid more regularly and to try and take better care of it. I’m thrilled to say that it’s currently in bloom. Look at that adorable little flower!
This tiny orchid is a sophronitis cernua, also called a cattleya cernua. It’s native to Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay, and like other orchids, it enjoys high humidity and is often found in cloud forests. Temperatures between 60-85 degrees work well for this plant, and it often grows in large patches that spread over time. Its lighting needs are intermediate—given its size, it’s more susceptible to sunburn than a phalaenopsis orchid. I have mine growing about 18 inches from an east-facing window with the supplemental grow lights I have in my greenhouse.
Sophronitis cernua in the wild. (Photo credit: Michael Wolf, CC 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons)
Cernuas also like more water than many other orchids, especially given how small its roots are. Because of its size, it’s often grown on wood or cork, which require daily or every-other-day watering. I think that’s what made the biggest difference for my cernua. It lives in my greenhouse, which has ~70% humidity. I thought the high humidity levels would reduce its watering needs, as is the case for most of the plants in there, but not this one. I don’t think I was watering it thoroughly enough frequently enough. Only a few weeks after I began fully dunking the piece of wood my cernua lives on every other day, it grew not one, but two new sets of stems.
The second set of stems is on the left.
Most other orchids shoot out long stems from which flowers grow. Cernuas don’t have that reach, and usually only two flowers grow on each stem. Unsurprisingly, the blooms on the cernua don’t last as long as they do on other orchids. The first bloom on mine is already fading and it’s been open for just under a week. When you look at how fragile the stems are, it’s a miracle that they can support anything, much less flowers. I’ve learned not to be afraid of handling orchids, since most of them are much sturdier than I first thought, but the cernua is by far my most delicate orchid. That makes me so thrilled that I finally got it to bloom and even more excited to get it to bloom again.
Sophronitis cernua in cultivation (Photo credit: Zack Bittner via Flickr)
