Maxillaria tenufolia blooming

[SydneyH]

I bought this small bagged Maxillaria tenufolia on the clearance shelf at Lowes just about a year ago. I repotted it into a bark and sphagnum mix last summer. It did well but no blooms.

Then this winter it started looking really healthy and I had hopes that it would bloom. But the cat knocked it over a couple of months ago and a few pseudobulbs popped off. I started worrying that it wouldn't bloom.

About a week ago I noticed the color seemed a little off, but it looked healthy so I didn't think more about it. Move ahead a few days and suddenly I have a bloom and it looks like one more on the way. So I'm excited. It was totally unexpected.

Sydney

[orchidsarefun]

congrats, it really looks healthy too.
You are going to have to share your grow secrets as I know that a lot of people struggle to grow and bloom this successfully.

[silken]

It looks great. I am one who's plant doesn't look very healthy. How wet do you keep yours?? Or any other tips!

[SydneyH]

Thanks Silken and Orchidsarefun!

It was healthy when I bought it but it was tightly pack in sphagnum. I repotted it in a bark mixture with a lot of sphagnum added but I feel sure it lost a lot of roots in the process. After the repotting it just sat around doing nothing except looking stressed for a couple of months. Then it started growing again.

Anyway, I've been watering it twice a week this winter so that it stays pretty damp and doesn't get very dry. Well I try to water it twice a week. I fertilize it about once a week lightly and give it an occasional spritz with water. It's indoors in my kitchen this winter. It's at the end of the kitchen with lots of west and south facing windows. It shares a south facing window with the cat, at least on sunny days, and that's how it ended up getting turned over. It gets plenty of light on sunny days in the winter and not much artificial light where it sits. My watering and fertilizing schedule in the winter is more haphazard in the winter too. I usually don't end up watering and fertilizing as often as I plan.

This summer it sat on a sheltered east-facing porch. I watered it every day, sometimes twice a day if it got too hot and dry. I would fertilize it about once a week lightly.

Really that's all I do. I use the Better-Gro fertilizer I bought at Lowes and regular tap water. Now I live in north Alabama so even in the winter, the house humidity is usually around 40-50% except on the very coldest days. Really I don't feel like I do anything special.

Sydney

[silken]

Thanks for all the tips SydneyH. I grow it somewhat similar except its in a greenhouse. But I keep it fairly damp and give it good light and it is a bark mix. Maybe it will take off this summer.

[WhiteRabbit]

Awesome! : wtg:

[SydneyH]

Thanks, Sonya!

White Rabbit, I wish I could pinpoint why it's blooming right now. Maybe it just needed to be knocked over by the cat. It does look very healthy at the moment though.

Sydney

[Red Orchid]

Originally Posted by SydneyH

Thanks Silken and Orchidsarefun!

It was healthy when I bought it but it was tightly pack in sphagnum. I repotted it in a bark mixture with a lot of sphagnum added but I feel sure it lost a lot of roots in the process. After the repotting it just sat around doing nothing except looking stressed for a couple of months. Then it started growing again.

Anyway, I've been watering it twice a week this winter so that it stays pretty damp and doesn't get very dry. Well I try to water it twice a week. I fertilize it about once a week lightly and give it an occasional spritz with water. It's indoors in my kitchen this winter. It's at the end of the kitchen with lots of west and south facing windows. It shares a south facing window with the cat, at least on sunny days, and that's how it ended up getting turned over. It gets plenty of light on sunny days in the winter and not much artificial light where it sits. My watering and fertilizing schedule in the winter is more haphazard in the winter too. I usually don't end up watering and fertilizing as often as I plan.

This summer it sat on a sheltered east-facing porch. I watered it every day, sometimes twice a day if it got too hot and dry. I would fertilize it about once a week lightly.

Really that's all I do. I use the Better-Gro fertilizer I bought at Lowes and regular tap water. Now I live in north Alabama so even in the winter, the house humidity is usually around 40-50% except on the very coldest days. Really I don't feel like I do anything special.

Sydney

Congrats it is lovely.

Mine is a big beautiful orchid, looks healthy but I have had it 4 years and it just will not bloom for me. It is so disheartening.