Inducing blooms in bulbophyllums

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I will add this...

Many Bulbophyllum are either spring or summer blooming.

[Subrosa]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

There are really two triggers. Temperature differentials and light. There are no other special tricks.

The temperature difference between seasons, and temperatures between night and day.

Lighting has to be strong enough.

Watering less or more will not do anything to get then to bloom.

Just waiting is the only other thing to do.

---------- Post added at 01:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:59 PM ----------



3 or 4 bulb divisions usually do not bloom so readily. Once they get to anywhere around 6 - 7 pseudobulbs, they tend to bloom more readily if lighting is adequate and if there is enough of a temperature difference between night and day and between the seasons. The temperature differences should be 10 F - 15 F.

The seasonal variation in photoperiod can also be a trigger for blooming, as well as the intensity. This would likely become less critical the closer the plant's natural habitat is to the equator, where seasonal variation in day length is less pronounced. I suspect that the shortness of the days during the winter at 40°N doesn't help. Can you supplement natural light with artificial during the winter? Giving light at the beginning and/or end of the day to lengthen the plants' day to 12 hours or so might help.

[malteseproverb]

Well, there's definitely a temperature differential that occurs in winter for my plants. So it's not a lack of that. I guess this is all pointing towards more light then?

I did have all of them under lights except the longiflorum this winter. Like I mentioned before, I even burned the lobbii by giving it too much light. I don't even keep my cattleyas under lights in the winter and they bloom reliably. I didn't even keep the cattleyas outside last year, they were sitting in my bay window which definitely gets less light than the yard. Kind of disappointing to hear that they require more light to bloom than cattleyas! Maybe I should move the bulbos into more sunlight in the yard right now? I have the cattleyas sitting where they get some direct sun but the bulbos are shielded and getting only indirect light. Again, this is the same amount of light that the mounted encyclia and dendrobium get and they bloomed fine last year, if that's any indication of the kind of indirect light I'm talking about in my yard.

[malteseproverb]

Update, the longiflorum is putting out one spike. And the rest of the growths are going nuts putting out new rhizomes (many more than pictured). I was hoping all the growths would bloom this year. I wonder what it is I could do to get them to put out spikes instead of growths next time.

[Leafmite]

Very nice! I increased my light for my tank a few months ago so I am hoping this will encourage the ones that are mature to bloom for the next cycle.