cattleya growing but not blooming

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by james mickelso

Good culture and all the right things at the right time will get them to bloom every time.

Its possible, however I use the same balance fertilizer all year round and have pretty darn good results. The few Catts I've had that didn't want to bloom responded very well to stress though. They also get a lot of that in their natural environment. As I said earlier, while complex hybrids don't necessarily follow in the shoes of their ancestors, some do.

Originally Posted by james mickelso

If the leaves have reached maturity and they haven't put out flowers, they aren't going to. Stressing them isn't going to produce flowers.

I also have to disagree with this statement. There are many Catts that bloom well after the leaves are mature and the sheath is done growing or are even brown and dry.

[silken]

I'm not an expert on getting Catts to bloom but I think applying some of what both isurus79 and james mickelso have said will help.

First off, a balanced fert such as 20-20-20 might be OK, but using 30 nitrogen to 10 phosphate is going to encourage new growth rather than hardening off and bloom. Increase the phosphates or decrease the nitrogen to even it up or after new growths are done increase the phosphates to help harden off and induce blooms. I do think that a dry rest will help some Cattleyas. Look at many Dendrobiums as an example that need the cold dry rest to induce blooms. I wouldn't necessarily give the Cattleya a cold treatment but some good drying won't hurt if you don't overdue it and it will also help harden off the pseudobulbs. And yes, lots of light for some cattleyas, just short of them burning.

[Oscarman]

Some good comment here on your reluctant bloomer. I have a Catt with 21 growths and it has flowered once. All it needed was a change in environment. More moisture, different feeding, different light levels.

With a little change I'm sure you will see some results.

Be good if you can post a pic of your plant though.

[james mickelso]

As for the maturity of the pbulb, as the leaf grows the sheath or the bare flower buds will grow as part of the maturing of the pbulb. If the pbulb has matured fully, the sheath or flower buds will not then come out of it. The leaf doesn't mature, wait awhile, and then the sheath grows. It happens at the same time. Sheaths do at times dry out and yet flower buds form later. But the sheaths grew as part of the leaf growth process. Of the hundreds of catts and laelias I've grown, few have pushed flower buds from completely dry sheaths. The usual processd is the leaf grows and as it grows the sheath or naked flower buds grow right along with it. Then at maturity the pbulb fattens and stores energy for either flowering or new bud growth. Sheaths that grow later in the season usually don't push flowers. Not sure why but in one of the AOS mags there was a good article about why. I'll look for it. As for stressing out an orchid to get it to flower it could be that the change wasn't the stresws but something else changed. Too much nitrogen will impeed flowering at the expense of more vegatative growth.

[terracotta7]

I have been reading this thread with interest, Newone, as I have similar issues with my cattleyas. Thanks for everyone's input. I am going to try to understand the growth and blooming cycles better to fertilize more intelligently, as suggested.

I had to divide two of my catts last season because they were growing out of the pots, and I gave half of each away to a friend of a friend who will no doubt call me someday soon to tell me she has about a gazillion blooms on each one. When she does, I am going to ask her what she did. And I want to know what color blooms these long time residents actually have.

Good luck, Newone! Welcome to OB! Post your pics when they bloom...I will be rooting for you!

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by james mickelso

As for the maturity of the pbulb, as the leaf grows the sheath or the bare flower buds will grow as part of the maturing of the pbulb.

Ah, I see what you're saying! Yes, this makes more sense. I thought you meant that flowers grow and bloom at the same time as the bulb, like Catt. aclandiae.

I would also love to read that AOS article if you can find it. Sounds very interesting!

---------- Post added at 10:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:38 AM ----------

Originally Posted by terracotta7

I will be rooting for you!

Pun intended?

[got ants]

I have cattleya noid that I've had for 8 years, and never bloomed. It thrives well, and I've tried all the tricks to try to get it to bloom. I've sun burnt it, starved it, over fertilized it, bloom booster, drought, cold, you name it, to no avail.

I also have a Scom noid that has not bloomed, but when I got it, the P-bulbe were only 3" long. I've had it about 5 years now and the P-bulbs are 12" long. It should bloom soon.

The reason I mention this, is the Catt noid has similar looking P-bulbs to the Schom. It may have a parent that requires many years to bloom. But then again, it may never bloom.

Good luck with your Catt.

[newone]

Thank you James for the timing hint for bloom boost. I have been asking about timing for several years but no one has said. Many say they don't change from a balanced fertilizing program. I have felt that if given at the right time, it was bound to help. As with this particular plant, it has 10 new growths at various stages. The oldest new growth is about 6" tall all ready and some are just starting at about 3" and others in between. What would be the timing for change to bloom boost fert?

---------- Post added at 12:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:06 PM ----------

Reading these responses brings up another thought. The plant is very crowded and thick in the pot yet not yet growing out of the pot. Would dividing it possibly help with the blooming problem? Since it has two major growth periods a year, when would I want to divide it?

---------- Post added at 12:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:14 PM ----------

How can I post a picture of this plant so you can all see it?[COLOR="Silver"]

---------- Post added at 12:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:15 PM ----------

---------- Post added at 12:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:45 PM ----------

How do I enclose a picture in a quick reply?

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by newone

Reading these responses brings up another thought. The plant is very crowded and thick in the pot yet not yet growing out of the pot. Would dividing it possibly help with the blooming problem? Since it has two major growth periods a year, when would I want to divide it?

How can I post a picture of this plant so you can all see it?

Dividing it probably won't do much to enhance blooming.

As for posting pics, I upload mine to Welcome to Flickr - Photo Sharing and then grab the URL and post them in quick replies. Its the easiest way I've found.

[Brooke]

First of all not all Catts have a wet then hard dry season. Many Catt species come from areas with plentiful water year round. Mossiae, nobilior, some of the Mexican Laelias and another smaller Catt species are the only dry Catts I grow. Even those get misted on sunny days, not flooded, but misted since they all get dew at night.

C. labiata is the only species I know needs the fall declining light to bloom. Even growing in a g/h my labiata blooms sometimes in August and sometimes in September. There is no rhyme or reason since the sun basically starts reducing the same amount every year.

I use MSU for pure which contains a low P number and I use it Mar-Oct. at 1/2 t. per gallon and 1/4 t. the rest of the year. I occasionally do a cal/mag supplement but I'm not very consistent with it. You can grow and bloom Catts with no fertilizer but will get more blooms with the supplements.

Perhaps someone with Orchid Wiz could look up the pedigree and see what species are in the pedigree.

Newone you belong to an orchid club so take the plant to the next meeting and ask for their opinions. See if they can help you get it to bloom. It could be something like higher temps is the answer if you have a ton of warm growers in the background.

Brooke