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Cocktail Orchid

Cattleya forbesii, Orchidaceae

Sources last read 14 September 2026.

Not yet rated How forgiving it is has not been judged here yet.

Also called Forbes cattleya.

Cocktail Orchid (Cattleya forbesii), the whole plant.
snotch from Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Toxicity is partly unassessed

  • Listed as non-toxic to cats by ASPCA.
  • Listed as non-toxic to dogs by ASPCA.
  • Not assessed for people. NC State Extension publishes no harm statement for this plant. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.

What the sources say about its care

Light
Partial Shade
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Water
Good Drainage, Moist
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Humidity

No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.

ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%
Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Soil
High Organic Matter
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Toxic to cats
Non-toxic
ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
Toxic to dogs
Non-toxic
ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
Harmful to people
No record of poisoning in people is listed for this plant; that absence is not evidence it is safe.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026

Routine care

Watering
Cocktail orchid needs the same growing conditions as other cattleya orchids, except that it dislikes drying out fully between waterings.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Propagation
By division, seed or stem cuttings.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Pests and diseases
Can be troubled by Boisduval scale, greenhouse thrips and hemispherical scale.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026

Move something and watch

Loading the simulator. It needs JavaScript; the care table above does not.

Flowers of Cocktail Orchid (Cattleya forbesii).
Flowers阿橋 HQ, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

About the plant

Cattleya forbesii, or Forbes' cattleya, is a species of orchid. The diploid chromosome number of C. forbesii has been determined as 2n = 54–60.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · read 13 September 2026

Native range
Brazil (Rio de Janeiro to Santa Catarina)
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Brazil
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Climate
seasonally dry tropical
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Growth form
pseudobulbous epiphyte
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Epiphyte, Herbaceous Perennial; habit erect
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Size
Height 12–18 in; width 6–24 in
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Flowering
Flowers cream/tan, gold/yellow, green, white; blooms in spring, summer
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026

Other Cattleya

More of the Orchidaceae family

Plants with similar care

Sources

What this does not cover

The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.

Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.

If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.