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Originally Posted by 3rdMaestro
I have this same hybrid and its never bloomed for me. It just goes through the motions of putting off a new growth and eliminating the oldest one. Perhaps that is because I grow indoors? Any advice would be helpful.... If I can't get anything to happen, perhaps I should consider giving to someone who can take better care of it?
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3M ------ thanks for describing what you see with your hybrid of the same kind.
I noticed what you described when I was growing my catasetum type orchids - all of them - mostly in the shade, under a balcony - indirect sunlight. No flower spikes.
And then I decided to put some of them out to get significantly more sunlight ------ such as direct morning sunlight - several hours (and more) of direct sunlight. Even getting intense direct sun toward mid day.
Intense sunlight probably isn't required - but just mentioning it ----- just as an indication of just how much these kinds of orchids can handle when sun-hardened.
When they are growing in full sun and out in the open ----- and are able to draw up lots of water (relatively that is - which then comes out through the leaves and back into the air) ----- these orchids tend to be quite hardy ----- and it's ok to give these orchids much more water than when growing in the shade. But --- in the shade ----- even while these orchids can still develop nice sizeable bulbs and leaves, it really appears to me that adequate lighting (intensity and duration) will help to significantly boost chances of spiking activity.
This doesn't mean at all that these orchids can't be grown indoors. Just provide them nice warm temperature, and adequate lighting intensity and duration (even if under lights) ------ and you'll eventually get spiking activity.
Also - what I found was ----- when I purposely paid no attention to these orchids - except for just keeping an eye on their health and looking out for spider mite activity, all cases of spiking activity came as a surprise ----- as in it was always the case where I noticed some pink/red colour on or near the bulb ----- that catches attention. It was never a case when I saw a nodule or nubbin beginning to develop. So ----- just allow the orchid to give us the surprise in that way.
The nice thing is that your orchid is continuing to grow each year. A good sign. Just upping the light level and duration is probably all that is needed. Maintain some relatively warm temperature too if possible - for the roots too.
I had one experience in the past (while just getting into growing these sorts of orchids) when one of them grown in the shade was in sphagnum ----- and I made the sphagnum too wet, which was starting to drown the roots, making the leaves go yellow. But fortunately, I pulled the plant ot of the pot, then dried the sphagnum a bit, then put all the sphagnum back in ----- and the leaves bounced right back and returned to normal colour within a day or two! But ..... that was in the shade.
But I notice that my full-sun catasetum grown in the same media don't get such problem. The water movement through the roots and plant during the daytime (thanks to the sun and outdoors) is much better than in shade. Keeping the roots nice and oxygenated.
Fdk. After Dark 'Sunset Valley Orchids'
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