My Laelia anceps won't bloom...any advice?

[papayj]

I've bought this as a small seedling w/ 4 bulbs back in 2016. It grew into a 13 bulb handsome plant but still no flowers yet.

It is mounted on a plastic mesh cylinder filled with lava rocks, fiber cloths and chunk of pumice. It sits at the south-facing balcony along with other my orchids...I water it twice daily during the summer and once every two days during the winter months. Temperature is around 35°C day/29°C night during summer and 28°C day/15°C night during winter. From March through October I fertilize it weekly with diluted liquid fertilizer....Is there something I am doing wrong?

[rbarata]

The major cause for anceps fail blooming is not enough light.
It also happened to mine until I put it outside in near full sun...some leaves were burned but I think this time it will bloom.

[Jeff214]

I also had the same experience with Laelia finckeniana, which has anceps as a parent. It only bloomed once I put it outside in full sun. It did burn a bit...

[papayj]

Thank you. Guess I will have to put it outside when the spring comes....

[Maryanne]

I recommend changing to a wood mount. My L. anceps and anceps hybrids are all on sections wood branches.
I don't think they care for the rocky type of media.
Also, as already stated: full sun, lots of water in the summer and fertilizer, then cut back amounts of both in the autumn/winter. Good Luck!

[papayj]

Originally Posted by Maryanne

I recommend changing to a wood mount. My L. anceps and anceps hybrids are all on sections wood branches.
I don't think they care for the rocky type of media.
Also, as already stated: full sun, lots of water in the summer and fertilizer, then cut back amounts of both in the autumn/winter. Good Luck!

Well, it is impossible to change mount now, since it would require destroying the entire root system. And they are really doing fine...as you can see in this picture. The root is all over the place, and tons of them went through the mesh.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by papayj

Well, it is impossible to change mount now, since it would require destroying the entire root system. And they are really doing fine...as you can see in this picture. The root is all over the place, and tons of them went through the mesh.

It's ok to just leave it be. Otherwise, I think that metal cutting tin-snips should be able to do the trick. The tin-snip cutters have enough force to nip through various parts of that mesh. Careful snipping could avoid damage to the roots, and even be able to recover all or most of the roots. I assume it is plastic mesh. The roots look fantastic.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by SouthPark

It's ok to just leave it be. Otherwise, I think that metal cutting tin-snips should be able to do the trick. The tin-snip cutters have enough force to nip through various parts of that mesh. Careful snipping could avoid damage to the roots, and even be able to recover all or most of the roots. I assume it is plastic mesh. The roots look fantastic.

Why argue with success? It is happy growing on its current mount. I can see no reason to change to anything else. Leave it, let it be happy.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by Roberta

Why argue with success? It is happy growing on its current mount. I can see no reason to change to anything else. Leave it, let it be happy.

I agree. The tin-snips is for situations where somebody - for some reason - wanted to unmount. There was a mention of "it's impossible to unmount".

[Roberta]

It looks like a very happy plant. It really does need lots of light. It can tolerate temperatures from freezing to the hottest summer day. If you don't have place to grow it outside, it will be more of a challenge to give it enough light, for enough hours, to bloom. But if you can possibly put it outside, at least for most of the year (just bring it inside if there is danger of going below 0 deg C for more than a few hours) it is certainly mature enough to bloom. So in the spring, move it outside.