Belligerent Paphs

[Pokey49]

I have 4 strap leaf and mottled leaf Maudiae paphs that keep putting on nice new growth but danged if they will spike. They are in a sunroom with Phals, oncidiums, Miltoniopsis and an Angraecum that have rebloomed. My sun room is temp controlled so that there is a 10 degree difference between night and day temps. They receive water and feeding as required. I'm baffled. Any thoughts??
Pokey aka Paul

[My Green Pets]

Are they old enough to bloom?
If so, How long has it been since they last bloomed?
Are the new growths the same size or larger than previous ones?

My first suspicion is simply that they are not receiving enough light.

Photos would help.

[Pokey49]

Yes they have all bloomed before. New growth is robust. Have other paphs that have bloomed again but these few refuse to do so. It's been almost 2 years for one 18 months for others. Hard for me to think it's a light issue when I have oncidiums and Angraecums that have rebloomed. My sun room has windows all around on east north and west sides and two sky lights. I can try sitting them in south facing window ledges I guess.

[PaphMadMan]

The Maudiae-type could possibly be stressed by too much light. Probably not if it is growing well and leaves are healthy green, but some species and their hybrids can be light sensitive. Do you know what it is?

If by 'strap leaf' you mean the larger multifloral species and their hybrids, it is quite common for a first bloom seedling to take 3+ years to bloom again, and even fully mature plants can tend to be once every 2-3 year bloomers. And these types might actually need more light than a typical Oncid, so don't rule that out. It can vary from hybrid to hybrid or even plant to plant within a cross.

If your 'strap leaf' types are bulldogs, they might benefit from cooler temperatures in fall to trigger blooming, and again it can vary from plant to plant.

All orchids have low fertilizer requirements, and Paphs lower than most. If your fertilizer use is above what may seem like a starvation diet it can inhibit flowering at times. And as always, it can vary.

If a mature healthy growing Paph hasn't bloomed for 3 years it is probably time to change something, and then you have to stick with the change for 2-3 rounds of growth to evaluate. And there are certain species and hybrid types that are notoriously reluctant bloomers. It might help to know what your plants are to make more specific suggestions.

[Pokey49]

The strap leaf ones that still have tags include
Paph:
Memoria Gordon Peters
Crouching Tiger
Mamie Wilson

MY mottle leaf ones have lost their tags.

With that much variability in cultural requirements as you describe I'm wondering if I should not get away from paphs altogether. There is only so much I can do with one sun room.

[estación seca]

Paphs are slow to get to blooming size. That is just the way it is. So, people with limited space might consider focusing on some of the smaller ones that bloom earlier and more often, and aren't too picky about cooling periods. As with any orchid, once you have a large plant, you will have more flowers.

The large strap-leafed multiflorals like Crouching Tiger can take a very long time to mature, and they are very big plants at this stage. This includes species like rothschildianum, philippinense, sanderianum and their hybrids, like Crouching Tiger.

I know the hybrid Pinocchio is very popular because it is a smaller plant, it doesn't take that many years to bloom, and when well cared for, it can be in nearly continuous bloom, all around the calendar.

[Optimist]

I am only on my very first paph, a bulldog wich I bought with 3 mature growths, near blooming size, which I got last summer, and I had absolutely no cooperation from it last year (I live in a hot dry environment). I started to water it more, raised the light level some, and this winter, in January, I got a 1.5 inch new growth, and what looks like 2 more new growths which are just little nubs but which I can see leaves on.
So by this time next year, I will have a 6 "hand" paph, and I'm betting it will start to bloom by then. So this to me, means the "coolness" is very important to the paph. I wonder if there is a cool pot out there for paphs?