Stanhopea oculata

[gabiborza]

Got this plant a couple of years ago, in very bad shape. Now it finally bloomed for me!
It has 3 spikes, so far 2 are in bloom

[DavidCampen]

Very nice! I have a large specimen that has bloomed several times for me but the last couple of seasons it has not - since it was moved to a greenhouse and also repotted in a wood basket with pure sphagnum. It grows very nice vegetation but no flowers. I think perhaps both the wood basket and the pure sphagnum are preventing flowers.

What are you using for potting mix?

[gabiborza]

Thanks! I'm using medium sized bark as a potting medium. This year I took it outside along with my cymbidiums, since may. Seems like it was a good ideea

[isurus79]

Looks good!

[WhiteRabbit]

Beautiful! Looks very happy!

[Oculata]

Gabiborza - You did a great job bringing that Stanhopea back to good shape.....it looks awesome! I really like this form with the white/cream background

David - I am in southern California like you and find that bringing Stanhopeas outdoors during the summer gives me better chances of blooms. Also repotting Stanhopeas can set them back and they may take a couple of years to bloom again.

[DavidCampen]

Here is a photo of my oculata. I removed it from its 12 inch square wood-slat basket and it is sitting in a round wire frame basket. The sphagnum is 3-4 inches deep and the pseudobulbs form a mound on top of that. I wonder if the flower spikes can get through that much sphagnum or if I should use a saw and reduce the thickness. The roots have infiltrated all through the thickness of the sphagnum so I don't want to reduce the thickness unless it is too much for the flower spikes to penetrate.

[Oculata]

David -that plant is a beast....congrats! I wouldn't take this year as an indication that something is wrong with the plant given it didn't bloom. This was/is a strange year for my Stanhopeas and most of my S. oculatas didn't bloom this year either. We had such a cool spring and early summer that many of my Stanhopeas didn't start growing until a month ago. I even have some winter/spring blooming species that are putting out inflorescences now!

That being said, your S. oculata looks like it should have bloomed since you re-basketed it two years ago. Make sure to fertilize it well this summer/fall and boost the growth on it. Get those pseudobulbs to be as fat as they can, so that it can't help but bloom next year. You may also want to find a place on your patio next year to let it grow outside in the shade during spring/summer. Several of my friends have had better luck blooming their Stanhopeas outside rather than in greenhouses. Also many of my S. oculatas seem to bloom better when I treat them like S. jenischiana and let them go a little more dry in the winter, though still somewhat moist. Several Stanhopes bloom more sparsely when they get really large, but yours looks a few years away from that.

Good luck pushing the plant to bloom....let us know when it does!