Potting ‘Raisin Pie’ Paphiopedilum Orchid - 4 yrs No Bloom!!

[BrklynOrchid]

Hello Everyone,

I have been dabbling in Orchids for about 6 years now. I bought this ‘Raisin Pie’ Paphiopedilum Orchid from Florida and it shipped bare root about 4 years ago. I planted it in an orchid pot with holes, the medium is bark and moss. I repotted a month or so ago with more moss because I was worried it was too dry.

I feed and water it regularly and while the leaves keep growing and multiplying it never blooms. All my other orchids bloom multiple times a year. I love this orchid and bought it because of the beautiful foliage. I am thinking maybe it's the potting that is the issue? I have seen really successful ones in pots like this (PHOTO INCLUDED) but I'm not sure what the medium would be in this kind of set up or how it works without drainage?

[MrHappyRotter]

Give it more light.

[Fairorchids]

Paphiopedilum are low light plants, with light/shade requirements similar to Phalaenopsis. If it is growing well and not 'stretching', you are doing fine there.
It does not want to go dry, so you should drench, and then drench again before it dries out.

The most common problem with non-blooming Paphs, is lack of temperature drop at night. ThePy need a 10-15 deg F temperature difference to initiate the buds.

For Paphs with solid green leaves & typical blooming period in January/March range, they need the cool nights in September (happens automatically if you grow outdoors in summer). For 'Maudiae' types (which Raisin Pie is), they can bloom any time of the year, so you can apply temperature difference whenever you wish (which should result in blooms 4-6 months later).

[TamiP]

How long should you keep up the temperature difference Kim?

[Fairorchids]

About 3 weeks should do it.

[mook1178]

So with a Maudiae type, is there a certain temperature range to drop into to bloom? Would going from 90 to 75 work out does it have to be dropping into cooler temperatures like 75 to 60?

I ask because in the summer time where I live that's about average temp difference between day and night. I'd like to grow outdoors during the summer but want everything to be in a vegetative state.

[TamiP]

It can get to a 40 degree difference in the winter and then it goes right back to 70 at night and 75 daytime. I'm not quite sure how I'll get the difference for 3 weeks in a steady fashion in any season here. Maybe a tent on the back porch to protect from the winds.

[aliceinwl]

I have one of these that’s been a reliable bloomer so far. I have it on a north facing windowsill. Daytime highs in the summer are low 70s and lows high 60s. In the winter high 60s with lows likely in the high 50s to low 60s. The room is climate controlled, but it’s up against the window glass. I have various similar Paphs in moss and bark and substrate doesn’t seem to matter as long as moisture levels are right.

[MrHappyRotter]

I don't want to dissuade anyone from trying the temperature drop trick with a reasonable temperature range, sometimes just a change of conditions alone (regardless of whether it's temperature, light, etc) is enough to spur a reluctant plant into blooming, so it's certainly worth a try. I would definitely recommend avoiding a 40 degree (F) temperature differential with this type of paph. While these are usually pretty forgiving plants, that level of temperature change could be stressful and is definitely not necessary.

It's never been my experience that the commonly available Maudiae type mottled leaf Paphs require a significant day/night temperature drop above and beyond what happens naturally indoors for me. Though to clarify, I've never lived some place where indoor temperatures are perfectly constant day and night year round, so it's definitely possible I've just been lucky all this time. If you do have constant indoor temps year round, then perhaps a concerted effort is required.

Specifically, this plant we're looking at in the photo appears to have 1 (perhaps more) mature growth, and several (or more) very young growths. The mature growth looks healthy, but given the age of the new growths, it is likely already beginning its natural decline and probably won't bloom at this stage of development. Given that and assuming I'm seeing things accurately, this plant won't be ready to bloom for awhile unless one or more of the immature new growths decides to spike up, which is something that happens some times.

The growths themselves aren't particularly etiolated (a sure sign the plant isn't receiving enough light), however I would anticipate a 4 year old plant that's growing in acceptable conditions, in good health, and receiving sufficient light to grow and bloom (but perhaps missing a key element like a temperature drop) to be a vigorous clump with at least several mature sized growths. Looking at this single photo, this plant seems to be reasonably healthy, but I'm not seeing much more than a single mature growth and a couple/several new growths. Based on that observation, I think addressing cultural needs, such as boosting the light levels a bit while the new growths develop so the plant has extra energy to invest in blooming once they're mature, is at least as important if not more than providing a temperature drop at night, which hasn't been particularly necessary for the majority of my paphs of this type in my experience.

As for the question of the potting mix, there are a myriad of choices out there (bark, moss, semi-hydro, etc) and the trick is to find what works for you and your growing conditions. However, the choice of substrate, as long as it is appropriate, isn't likely to affect blooming. What would affect blooming would be if the plant doesn't have any healthy roots, so that's also something you should look into. If it doesn't have healthy roots, then it will be reluctant to bloom or it may "stress bloom" and then die because it expended all its energy into flower development.

[estación seca]

Look up my notes from a lecture Brandon Tam gave to the Desert Valley Orchid Society. Use the top maroon menu bar Search function and enter DVOS.