How do paphs bloom? - Orchid Board

Cewal · #1 01-29-2011, 04:58 PM

Do they have to grow a whole new set of leaves to bloom the next year, or do they rebloom from the same center as the original bloom? Thanks.

WhiteRabbit · #2 01-29-2011, 05:05 PM

they bloom from new fans, tho there are some sequential bloomers that continue to grow buds on the same spike for a long time

Cewal · #3 01-29-2011, 05:09 PM

What happens to the old fan, when a new one grows?

PaphMadMan · #4 01-30-2011, 12:52 AM

They will not rebloom from an old fan that has already bloomed. Each new fan will bloom as it matures, if all goes well. Eventually the old fans will turn yellow and die. This usually won't happen for several years though if the plant is healthy, and as long as an old fan is alive it will help support the growth and flowering of the new fans.

CTB · #5 01-30-2011, 06:29 AM

They are so slow to open, I wait and wait. The time spend growing the spike, then the bloom, seems like half a year is over from start to finish. Well, maybe not that much. Is there a way to speed this pocess up?

Paul Mc · #6 01-30-2011, 09:26 AM

I still have yet to get one of mine to rebloom. It has new growth which is much larger than the old growth that it had bloomed off of, but still no success. I'm jealous of your wait CTB! lol...

BikerDoc5968 · #7 01-30-2011, 10:33 AM

Ah, patients is truly a virtue. The wait is worth every moment! Something else I learned about Paphs is that the new fan may not arise along side the old fan but grow out from within. So don't be too hasty to pitch an old plant if you don't see something immediately.

In the first 2 pictures you can see new fans erupting from the old fan. In the second picture, the left 2 leaves are the new fans while the right is the old fan. In the third and fourth pictures the new fan has grown through the leaf of the old fan.

RosieC · #8 01-30-2011, 12:59 PM

I agree the wait is worth it. Also that you shouldn't be too hastly to pitch one with just an old fan and no sign of a new one... it will get a new one eventually.

Early 2010 I was feeling that Paphs would never rebloom for me. My oldest had been growing 4 new fans for ages and the biggest were much bigger than the original it had when I bought it. Then suddenly I spotted two buds out of two of those fans, and other on another paph.

They were both well worth the wait.

Cewal · #9 01-30-2011, 07:44 PM

Thanks, everyone, for all of the great information. I have a new fan starting on one of my paphs, but it's only about 2 inches high.