Question about sympodial orchids

[foxtailskies]

Hello

I've had my Odontoglossum 'Marguerite Holm' for a year now, I got it as a mature flowering plant last year and have been watching it grow ever since. It got off to a rocky start... I figured out a few months ago that the bark it appeared to be planted in covered up a pot full of pure sphagnum moss *wince* but since it's been in pure bark it's been doing much better! It has a new growth that's about half as tall as the others, with a pseudobulb just starting to form; there are two other mature bulbs with leaves and one more without a leaf. Anyway.... my question is about flowering Can a pseudobulb that has already produced one flower stalk produce another one? Also, can orchids do two things at once- vegetative and flowering growth? My other two orchids are both babies, I'm curious to know what to expect from an orchid that might someday flower again

Thanks!
~Heather

[Ray]

Generally speaking, sympodial orchids only bloom once from a growth, but that's not always the case. Some dendrobiums, for example, will bloom for a few successive years, and some species will rebloom repeatedly from the same spikes, even though they look to be dead.

Again, the blooming/growing question can be answered with "it depends". Some grow mature, then bloom. Some bloom then form new growths, some grow, mature, then won't bloom until the following year.

In the case of an odontoglossum, I thing you'll likely to see flowering occurring after the growth has matured, and it will likely only bloom one time per growth. Sometimes that one time might be with two spikes, but it's a single blooming period.