When someone says an orchid “likes to be pot bound”.....

[Roberta]

Again, not all types... Cattleyas and Vandas (and other dominant epiphytes) really seem to prefer to not be in pots at all, if they can get sufficient moisture (which, along with management, is why we put them in pots in the first place) . Many Catts grow and bloom best after they climb out of the pot. Their roots really want to run free. Flor those, maintaining a healthy environment within the pot can be a challenge.

[orchidsamore]

Actually the reason and results are very simple.

Orchids have a certain amount of strength. To survive they first grow roots and then leaves and if there is any strength left they grow flowers.

Plants in small pots start flowering sooner. Plants in larger pots grow bigger faster.

I had a Gram. speciosum flowering in a 4 inch pot that I moved to a 6 inch pot and 2 months later it was growing so fast I moved it to an 8 inch pot. It did not flower again for 3 years. Fourth year when the pot was full of roots I got 700 flowers and the next year 1000 flowers. Are you willing to wait extra years?

As far as nature not being contained, it is the same. Nature does not care if it takes 20 years for a plant to flower. We are the impatient ones.

We grow many orchids in trees and on wood mounts in South Florida and it takes at least 2 years longer to get the same flowering on a tree or mount.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by orchidsamore

We are the impatient ones.

Some very nice comments made OAM.

Although ... just like orchids, there are variations in people too ...... some of us are extremely patient. I agree that some orchid growers have mentioned that growing orchids helps people to develop patience. Some people inherently are extremely patient already.

Some growers even purposely choose to grow orchids from seedling size. However ------ I can also see from other standpoints various reasons for wanting to see orchids producing flowers sooner, rather than later ------ such as to enjoy looking at the flowers. And - if growing from seedling size ...... 7 years here, and 7 years there ...... it adds up to MANY years.

[DirtyCoconuts]

I don’t fully understand how that is true (or really applies) when these are epiphytes and terrestrial plants in nature.

If I divide a plant a place one half in a big pot and one half in a small pot...maybe you are right, but what about the one on the branch? I have a gram that I am growing terrestrial in multch.

It flowers and it grows as much as it wants to into the earth

[SouthPark]

True DC. I agree with you. Some of those tree dwelling orchids out in the wild just have their roots spreading, and just do their thing, as we expect them to.

How much vitamins/nutrients they get out there will depend on what the environment hands out to them.

Back at our homes, our orchids could possibly do even better than in the wild, as the growers can give them certain 'vitamins' - aka fertiliser and elements. Even root promoting hormones........ and other sorts of care. This doesn't include the cases of orchid abuse obviously heheh.

[DirtyCoconuts]

Jerry.

First off, I would love to come by and see your space once this situation is normalized and I am moving about the state again

I just don’t have the same experience. I recently ( like december) made a nice mount for my wife by our front door. Some phalaenopsis and some minis, a bunch of tillandisas and a den

Three of the five phals are in flower. It was the fastest mount for me to remove the Velcro too so the roots were growing crazy as well.

I am not saying anyone is wrong, but I just don’t understand how the plant would prefer in culture what it does not get in nature.

[SouthPark]

There will always be some interesting situations and scenarios that might not be fully explained yet. For example, there are definitely cases of orchids (catts, cym etc) that just flower every year, even if grown in big pots.

There are catts (even in big pots) and other orchids that will flower pretty much 100% for every single bulb that develops even when the pot is large and lots of media. This likely depends on growing conditions obviously.

There are also cases where we've heard - where people say that some orchids encountering conditions of massive hard-ship may have some sort of biological process that gets triggered ------ apparently some evolutionary-developed mechanism (no idea what happens actually, or what is involved) - that leads to flowering. Propagate before getting possibly wiped out.

But then there are obviously cases where orchids are growing just great - healthy, no hardship, and just flowering nicely and reliably.

[Ray]

I don't think it's as simple as "how come this and not that?" There are likely several factors that determine whether or not the plant will bloom. Nutrition, stability and "degree of comfort" being three. (I am going to ignore genetics, as it seems obvious that some individuals will perform differently from their kin.)

We've beaten the first two well enough, so let's look at the "degree of comfort" thing: if the conditions are ideal and the resources are well provided, both in volume and frequency, then a plant will bloom sooner than it might if the conditions and/or resources are a bit dodgier. Flowering might be delayed even if the conditions are the same, but one plant gets its needed inputs more sporadically, even if the net amount of them is identical. It's as if the plant has a "comfort level", based upon its growing experience, that helps it "decide" what to do. I certainly cannot say that they do or don't "feel" such things, but it appears that way to me. A loose analogy might be a young couple considering starting a family - they might be biologically capable of doing so, but if the living situation, bills and income don't line up well, they are less likely to do so, waiting until they are better situated.

Taking the plant comfort level to the negative extreme, sometimes when a plant senses that its situation is leading to its demise, it'll bloom then as a last-ditch effort to reproduce before it dies.