Cattleya (Hsin Buu Lady) won't bloom

[Possum-Pie]

Being February, all of my Phals are budding/blooming. I bought a Cattleya Buu Lady at a show last Feb. and it was full of striking blooms. I waited eagerly for this Feb. to see it bloom again, but nothing. It has hardly grown at all in the year I owned it, and has no trace of a spike. I water/fertilize "weakly/weekly" and it gets full morning sun year round temp 65-70F. It is healthy looking, just not blooming.

[MrHappyRotter]

Phils? Like Philodendrons? Maybe it just needs more light?

[DeaC]

I'm assuming you mean Phal,not Phil. But your topic says Cattleya.

[stonedragonfarms]

Lc. Hsin Buu Lady has 50% of it's genetic makeup coming from Laelia anceps; culture for the hybrid is pretty much the same as for its anceps parent: high light [it will take full sun in the greenhouse if acclimated], regular feeding & watering during the active growth season [roughly mid March-mid October] & a temperature drop at night [the other half of its parentage is not as temperature dependent to spike], but a minimum of 10f difference between day/night would be a good start.
If your plant has not grown at all, I'd suspect a combination of too little light and too little humidity. Most anceps and anceps hybrids are tough things; try a shift in culture and I bet she'll reward you.
Good luck,
AP

[Possum-Pie]

Originally Posted by MrHappyRotter

Phils? Like Philodendrons? Maybe it just needs more light?

Sorry, typo PHALs as in phalaenopis

---------- Post added at 01:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:41 PM ----------

Originally Posted by stonedragonfarms

Lc. Hsin Buu Lady has 50% of it's genetic makeup coming from Laelia anceps; culture for the hybrid is pretty much the same as for its anceps parent: high light [it will take full sun in the greenhouse if acclimated], regular feeding & watering during the active growth season [roughly mid March-mid October] & a temperature drop at night [the other half of its parentage is not as temperature dependent to spike], but a minimum of 10f difference between day/night would be a good start.
If your plant has not grown at all, I'd suspect a combination of too little light and too little humidity. Most anceps and anceps hybrids are tough things; try a shift in culture and I bet she'll reward you.
Good luck,
AP

Thanks. Winters are 62F- 67F in my house with 34%-44% humidity. Summers are 68F-74F with 50% humidity. Light is southerly but perhaps not as strong as it needs, it's quite overcast in the winters in PA.
I fear the humidity may be the cause as winter humidity is a challenge. It's currently 45% in my house right now.

[aliceinwl]

Was the grower you bought it from local? I've had some of my plants shift their blooming times pretty drastically from when they bloomed at purchase. I don't know if this is a possibility too.

[Possum-Pie]

Originally Posted by aliceinwl

Was the grower you bought it from local? I've had some of my plants shift their blooming times pretty drastically from when they bloomed at purchase. I don't know if this is a possibility too.

Yes, about 1hr. south of me. It looks healthy, media wood chips with no sign degrading, but didn't grow a bit. I compared a photo I took of it a year ago with the blooms to it's size today. Not worried about that, I've had many orchids that were slow growers, but the lack of blooms puzzles me.
BTW, my miltonopsis has no blooms this year either yet 4 of my Phalaenopses are blooming and the 5th has a spike that started about a week ago.

[Dollythehun]

Lots more light. I had the same problem. You may have to supplement. BTW, it's phalanopsis.

[Fairorchids]

Hsin Buu Lady was likely supplied by one of the Hawaii mass producers (I bought one too last March). Those plants came in with very poor roots.

I promptly repotted mine, into a clay pot with regular Cattleya mix. I hung it high in the greenhouse, so it got very bright light. It rewarded me with a new growth 50% larger than the previous, and it currently has a spike with 6 buds (vs 3 on the spike last year).

Now that it is well established in the pot, since it is 50% Laelia anceps, this spring it will go together with all my L. anceps and other anceps hybrids, into full sun, in late April. It will stay there till first frost.

There it will get plenty of water (sprinkler on 2 hours every 3 days), and fertilizer every 2 weeks. I have used this regimen the last 3 years, and most of my anceps produce 2 new growths on each lead + several extra leads from some of the older pseudobulbs.

[Possum-Pie]

Originally Posted by Fairorchids

Hsin Buu Lady was likely supplied by one of the Hawaii mass producers (I bought one too last March). Those plants came in with very poor roots.

I promptly repotted mine, into a clay pot with regular Cattleya mix. I hung it high in the greenhouse, so it got very bright light. It rewarded me with a new growth 50% larger than the previous, and it currently has a spike with 6 buds (vs 3 on the spike last year).

Now that it is well established in the pot, since it is 50% Laelia anceps, this spring it will go together with all my L. anceps and other anceps hybrids, into full sun, in late April. It will stay there till first frost.

There it will get plenty of water (sprinkler on 2 hours every 3 days), and fertilizer every 2 weeks. I have used this regimen the last 3 years, and most of my anceps produce 2 new growths on each lead + several extra leads from some of the older pseudobulbs.

TRUE about the poor roots, it promptly fell over in the pot with the weight of the spike last year and needed propping. I began supplementing in Jan with a full spectrum grow light with UV but I guess it was too little too late. I'll increase the light and see what happens. Thanks