Stanhopea Nigroviolacea No Blooms

[Orchidbyte]

We have had this plant for over 2 years now and she grows like crazy and gets over 3000 foot candles of light under 50 percent shade cloth, quality filtered water, regular fertilizing less when cooler days come.

The one problem with her is why she does not bloom, she was a mature plant from a very good orchid nursery, she has had good care she is in an open ceder slat basket, she has roots fresh and alive.

We just got our first greenhouse and she seems like she is doing fine in there, same light but better temps and more humidity. Maybe she will bloom this year.

Anybody got any ideas why she may not bloom?

Prior to the greenhouse she was outdoors all the time with other Stanhopeas and assorted orchids that do fine.

Thanks Gary

[SP2340]

Hi. I'm not an expert but I think 3k ft candles of light is a bit low and from what I've read the leading cause of orchids not blooming is lack of light.

Good luck!

[isurus79]

Any pics? Im curious about the lighting situation as well. Does it get 3000 f.c. or 1500 f.c. under the cloth? I ask because 3000 would be ok but maybe a little high and 1500 would probably be too dark. Pics would help a lot though.

[smweaver]

You might want to try letting it dry out a little more toward the end of summer. I've read that this species (or at least some varieties of it) come from seasonally dry areas in southern Mexico, where it gets lots of water, fair amounts of shade, coupled with high heat and humidity during its growing season, followed by cooler and dryer conditions, along with higher amounts of light in the early fall. If all else fails, it might not hurt to give it a try. The Stanhopea Love Potion that I have is half tigrina, and it flowers dependably in the late summer and fall when it starts to dry out a bit more outside where it spends the summer. Good luck!

Steve

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by smweaver

You might want to try letting it dry out a little more toward the end of summer. I've read that this species (or at least some varieties of it) come from seasonally dry areas in southern Mexico, where it gets lots of water, fair amounts of shade, coupled with high heat and humidity during its growing season, followed by cooler and dryer conditions, along with higher amounts of light in the early fall. If all else fails, it might not hurt to give it a try. The Stanhopea Love Potion that I have is half tigrina, and it flowers dependably in the late summer and fall when it starts to dry out a bit more outside where it spends the summer. Good luck!

Steve

Steve,
With this strategy, do you let the season's new growth finish up growing or do you just basically turn the tap off at a particular date? And how dry do you let it go?

[Frdemetr]

Originally Posted by smweaver

You might want to try letting it dry out a little more toward the end of summer. I've read that this species (or at least some varieties of it) come from seasonally dry areas in southern Mexico, where it gets lots of water, fair amounts of shade, coupled with high heat and humidity during its growing season, followed by cooler and dryer conditions, along with higher amounts of light in the early fall. If all else fails, it might not hurt to give it a try. The Stanhopea Love Potion that I have is half tigrina, and it flowers dependably in the late summer and fall when it starts to dry out a bit more outside where it spends the summer. Good luck!

Steve

Hi Steve,

In my conditions, nor Stan tigrina nor Stan tigrina var. nigroviolacea need a clear dry season to induce blooming; the more demanding Stans in this aspect are Stans wardii and lietzei - no dry season, no bloom. Curiously, Stans lietzei and insignis share some habitats in Brazil ("Mata Atlântica" - Atlantic rain forest), with a clear dry winter (not cold, only dry); in cultivation, only lietzei demands a dry period in the winter, and insignis blooms with or without a dry period (we call insignis "orquídea sem vergonha", shameless orchid, it will bloom anyway, no matter what you do!)

[smweaver]

Steve, I don't know that I would call it a strategy--which implies that some thought was given to it on my part. When I first "discovered" that my plant seemed to bloom after being dried out a bit, it was during one of our typically dry Augusts when I left my plant in my sister's care for a two week period when I was on vacation. I gave her a sheet that identified each plant by name and indicated how frequently they should be watered. Not being a "plant person," I found out later that she simply watered everything whenever she remembered to do so. The Stanhopeas (both Love Potion and wardii--which would also seem to confirm Frederico's comment about wardii needing a dry period in order to flower) sent out spikes shortly after my return. Not sure whether the two weeks of being fairly dry induced them to spike, or perhaps having lived with my sister was enough to terrify them into attempting to breed before their anticipated deaths. But after finally getting them to flower, I decided I would give them the same treatment every August, and they've since bloomed reliably each year (especially the Love Potion, which just got done flowering about ten days ago).

Steve

[Undergrounder]

i wouldn't think the light levels would be a problem, the grower i know who has dozens of them grows them in summer in straight out shade.. and they bloom no problem. As far as i know nigro doesn't need a dry period either...

beats me, though i hope it works out for you, i also have some Stan nigros and i hope they bloom for me this summer

[Manfred Busche]

Hello there, I would like to contribute to the discussion as follows :

(1) Any adult Stanhopea plant should per year flower once (1x) plus produce 1 leaf or 2 leaves.
.....We, the Stanhopea enthusiasts, should manage the plant insightful to achieve this target.
........Means of Management:
(1.1) Light + Water + Minerals (N=32), when the plant has decided to grow a leaf ;
(1.2) Light + Water + Minerals (P=50), when the plant has decided to grow a spike;
(1.3) Light + Water (sparingly), when the plant has decided to be dormant - !! no minerals !!
(1.4) Fertilise 400 ppm every 3 days - !! do not during Dormancy!!
(1.5) No organic Fertiliser.
(1.6) Re-basket the plant every 2 years to renew compost,
.......and divide the plant(!) when it has accumulated, say, 10 bulbs / 6 leaves.

(2) Why do all Stanhopea plants have bulbs?
.....To survive a Dry Season, often a matter of Life or Death for the plant,
.....and to kick-start a new leaf shoot or a spike or both at the end of the Dry Season when
.....the rains begin to pour down anew.
.....What the plant does or ceases to do during it's Dry Season Dormancy, is not yet fully understood,
.....but is most probably established in it's genes (Marilyn Light, Ottawa).

>>>If in cultivation the plant is being deprived of an incident it was in nature exposed to once a year
.....and is genetically equipped to cope with (the Dry Season),
.....then the plant may be pushed into becoming what I call a VEGETATOR , i.e.
.....it grows and grows vegetation - but does not flower...

(3) A 72-years-old Stanhopea does at no time ever lose it's vigor because the plant continually
.....grows new leaves, roots and bulbs, thus every year re-juvenating itself...
.....An aging presidential candidate however is vigorous no more at 72 !! - hence vote for Obama...

(4) Further Reading :
.....You might look up other posts I have placed on these pages, to gain an insight into the cultivation
.....of Stanhopea plants that flower every 1 year, not every 3 years...