Maxillaria Tenuifolia

[aparnamane]

First time bloomer in my care.

[DeaC]

These are great. Glad you didn't make my dopey mistake and pot in too large a pot. She soon grew over the edge, kinda tipsy, but that was ok by me. This was some 2 yrs ago but putting on growth and delicious fragrance(Yamada variety).

[Mugsie]

I have had one of these for years. It's huge, very healthy, plenty of bright light, moist medium and fertilized regularly, yet it doesn't bloom. I've never had it bloom, and I have no idea why. It's in a warm GH and has high humidity daily. Thoughts?

[tmoney]

howdy! we are noobs, but love maxillarias and have a couple species. knowing that generalising is bad, we have good luck with giving them a good chilly winter and lots of light. most of ours seem to bloom when they experience a strong shift in temps.

again, we don't have tenufolia, but the other species we have seem to like that and respond well. no other thoughts, sorry! best of luck getting it to bloom!

[estación seca]

If you search on the name you will find threads here about this plant. I recall one person, I think in the Midwestern US, who had a huge plant. That person said they needed to stand it in a dish of water and gradually move it into full summer sun in order to flower it.

[camille1585]

I've also had one as a house plant for many years, which is now huge and makes tons of blooms each spring.

The trick I've found is to give it as much light as possible, and I gradually move mine into full sun in the summer, and it stands in a dish of water. Once empty I wait a day or so before refilling, but the substrate is always moist.

In the winter it likes to dry out somewhat, which I also read may help with flowering. Basically I wait until the bulbs are just starting to show signs of shriveling before watering again.

---------- Post added at 06:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:09 PM ----------

Originally Posted by aparnamane

First time bloomer in my care.

Beautiful, I can smell it from here!

[aparnamane]

Originally Posted by DeaC

These are great. Glad you didn't make my dopey mistake and pot in too large a pot. She soon grew over the edge, kinda tipsy, but that was ok by me. This was some 2 yrs ago but putting on growth and delicious fragrance(Yamada variety).

when I bought it from Orchid show, it was in a small pot and full of roots, so I didn't want to disturb the roots which looked pretty healthy so I up-pot it.

---------- Post added at 11:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:26 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Mugsie

I have had one of these for years. It's huge, very healthy, plenty of bright light, moist medium and fertilized regularly, yet it doesn't bloom. I've never had it bloom, and I have no idea why. It's in a warm GH and has high humidity daily. Thoughts?

I am not an experienced grower but I kept it in the east-facing window since Jan 2024, was getting direct morning sunlight and rest of the day bright light from the window, and for the last two weeks outside in a walking greenhouse where it's getting bright light as well.

Thanks.

[greyblackfish]

Great job aparnamane!

Mugsie and everyone, I’m not sure what makes mine bloom. It doesn’t produce those bulbs very plentifully for me. I’ve had mine for three years and it’s still very small. But it blooms.

I got my first bloom last year and again this year in April. It could be that I put mine outside starting in March when night temps reach 60°F. It sits under mostly shade. It seems rules of light requirements are more different the further south we get? Also mine is way overpotted. It sits in bark and sphag and doesn’t care if I put it in clay or plastic. I water it fairly frequently seeing how some of you grow it in full moss. I wish it would grow more bulbs