Plant of the Month - Brassocattleya Maikai ‘Mayumi’

Brassocattleya Maikai ‘Mayumi’, January 2024 lights/windowsill-grown Plant of the Month

Photo courtesy of Joan Goodman

An interview with the grower, Steve Robinson.

By John Hockberger

Steve, you’re sharing the honor of plant of the month in January 2024. Your plant is gorgeous. What is it?

Steve — Brassocattleya Maikai ‘Mayumi’ - it’s a hybrid.

Where and when did you purchase it?

Steve — Natt’s in March 2019, probably mounted.

What are your growing conditions?

Steve — I grow this in semi-hydroponics so I immediately removed the plant from the mount and transferred to semi-hydro. It has been repotted once in March 2022 to increase “pot” size. It grows under (bright) Barrina LED lights in household temperatures (60-73 during winter, gets into the 80s during the summer). The lights do follow a seasonally adjusted photoperiod.

What is its bloom cycle?

Steve — It’s bloomed every year since I got it between Oct and Jan - just once a year.

Would you say this plant is easy to grow, intermediate or more difficult?

Steve — It’s getting to be a monster so I’d say it is a relatively easy grower (cattleya conditions - so it can dry out a little if you keep it in bark)

Anything else that an orchid grower/enthusiast might like to know about this plant?

Steve — It’s one of my largest plants and I love all of the purple color when it’s in bloom.