I know that spotted Cattleyas are some of my most favorite orchids. There are five or six ways to get spots on your Cattleya blooms but I wanted to discus three species that have been notorious in producing spotted flowers.


The above is Cattleya amethystoglossa. There has been hundreds of hybrids produced just in the last 20 years that have amethystoglossa as a parent. The flowers of the hybrids can be loaded with spots but they are often like freckles rather then spots. Cattleya amethystoglossa can grow to be a 'monster of a plant' reaching a meter in height and carrying 18-25, 3 1/2" blooms that are fragrant. Background color varies from almost pure white to pale pink and darker pinks. There are several tetraploids available that have broadly or full segmented flowers with beautiful spots. Line breeding this species has helped produce superior clones.
Amethystoglossa can bloom as a young plant with 2-3 flowers in a 3 1/2" pot but is capable of much more.

I broke this up to make for easier reading.
The second species I want to talk about is Cattleya schilleriana.


this is one of my favorites and I keep buying them and killing them. They grow differently then most other Cattleyas. They are compact plants loving low, Oncidium light and more moisture. If you let them dry out too much, they sulk and do not grow well at all. AND like most bifoliate Cattleyas they HATE being disturbed! Do not be in a rush to repot them. I have two clones under lights right now and they are in plastic net pots. The only reason is that I do not have to disturb them by repotting. Schilleriana typically produces 4" flowers of spicey fragrance. They have quite possibly the best lip in the entire orchid world. Well my 🌍 anyway.
Spots are passed down to the progeny but again they are freckle like. With further breeding, like say with Brassavola nodosa, spots may become more apparent!
The third and last species famous for spots is Cattleya aclandiae.


This is another compact plant producing 3 3/4" spotted flowers of varying intensity and size. Like schilleriana, it HATES to be disturbed. It likes more sun, maybe three to four hours but you can not fry it with standard Cattleya light. It really does well in sun but underneath 50% shadecloth.
Unlike schilleriana which does not want to dry out, aclandiae must dry out and dry out quickly. It does well in baskets or clay pots and mounting is always a winning method. For me the flowers have a Spicey fragrance.
In summary, none of these plants are considered by me to be easy to grow. But if you are willing to put in a little effort, success is possible.
Remember that buying hybrids with these species can be very worthwhile. Why? Hybrid vigor!! Hybrid vigor means that their hybrids are often easier to grow then the species. And they spots are passed on to their progeny!!!

Here of a few images of how I grow Cattleya aclandiae.

Bill, this is such a terrific and informative thread!
Interesting is the difference in the watering of schilleriana ( more water) and aclandiae (dry out quickly.)
I am intrigued by the pellets in your pots! What are they?

That is the baked clay stuff sold as Aliflor in Florida. It is a round bead of various sizes and is terra cotta on the outside, gray on the inside.
Hydroton is another baked clay product, irregular in size. But it works just as good considering in Cape Coral, bark degraded into a peat moss like mess within 6 months!! No good for roots that need an open and airy mix.

Ursula, a while back someone here told me that stuff was available at IKEA and I found a good sized bag for about $5 there. Much, much less expensive than other sites. It goes a long way when mixed with the sponge rock, bark and charcoal (per Bill's mix.)

Thanks you two! I have Ikea nearby, seems I need to make a trip there!

That reminds me. I have an IKEA gift card from Christmas! I can use a comfy chair in order to continue my Orchid Forum posting.

Just be sure to wear your hiking shoes. Ikea was a new experience for me this year and it wore me out. We did buy two chairs and they are comfy.

Well they are essentially warehouses. Just like Lowe's or Home Depot.

The first time we went we did not know we were supposed to follow the arrows, I was so busy looking I did not even see them. We got so lost but somehow managed to wind up in the orchid area. Phil still does not believe that was by accident.

I just remembered this Sunday, at our first meeting of the new Ann Arbor Orchid Society season, we have a wonderful speaker, Alan Koch of Gold Country Orchids. He always has great plant material including spotted Cattleyas.
I first met Alan in 1987 or 1988 and I always look forward to browsing at his booth. I will be trying to acquire a few quality plants. He is never cheap but the quality is very good.
I have abused (killed) about 10 Cattleya pumilas over the years. I would love a chance to kill another one!

I'm that I can keep a "C. Jungle Eyes" (formally Lc. Jungle Eyes) alive long enough to see it bloom. I know the flowers vary quiet a bit... but there's hope it looks like this:

Good luck Glenn.
Jungle Eyes is one of the best compact spotted yellows around, bar none. Because of the difficulty of getting Cattleya aclandiae to bloom, that tendency gets passed down to its progeny.
The best advice I can give you is to "abuse it a little". When you grow aclandiae and you hover over it, you water it, you feed it, you triple check the light, they don't bloom.
But if you keep the light up, let it go dry and suffer a bit with limited feeding, it may in fact bloom.

Sometimes when people want something to bloom so badly that they fuss over a plant, they really get intense and worry about it when the key might be to abuse it a little.
It is just a suggestion based on my experiences. Good luck!!!

BigBill said:Good luck Glenn.
Jungle Eyes is one of the best compact spotted yellows around, bar none. Because of the difficulty of getting Cattleya aclandiae to bloom, that tendency gets passed down to its progeny.
The best advice I can give you is to "abuse it a little". When you grow aclandiae and you hover over it, you water it, you feed it, you triple check the light, they don't bloom.
But if you keep the light up, let it go dry and suffer a bit with limited feeding, it may in fact bloom.

Sometimes when people want something to bloom so badly that they fuss over a plant, they really get intense and worry about it when the key might be to abuse it a little.
It is just a suggestion based on my experiences. Good luck!!!

Just repotted it into a 6" Tree Fern Pot. Since this orchid doesn't like to be disturbed, figured a permanent pot might be best. Top of the plant is 8" under the lights. Still

Good luck Glenn! She is a real beauty! They can be somewhat variable in color but each one is beautiful.

Btw, if one has trouble buying tree fern pots, Epiweb is not a bad alternative and it never decays.
https://www.firstrays.com/epiw...
https://www.glassboxtropicals....

Years ago I bought some slabs and baskets from First Rays, a couple are still in use, as a well established Orchids with sturdy roots will be impossible to dislodge.

Ursula said:Btw, if one has trouble buying tree fern pots, Epiweb is not a bad alternative and it never decays.
https://www.firstrays.com/epiw...
https://www.glassboxtropicals....

Years ago I bought some slabs and baskets from First Rays, a couple are still in use, as a well established Orchids with sturdy roots will be impossible to dislodge.

THANK YOU Ursula !!!

Glassbox has the 6"& 8" tree fern pots reasonably priced too.

Cool!