Lc. Fire Dance 'Patricia' sheath question
 

I have had a Lc. Fire dance 'Patricia' which was purchase 3+ months ago 'in sheath'. The sheath was only just beginning to show (3/4") when purchased. The sheath had grown slowly, now about 2.5". The sheath remains green, but seems to be very slow in development. Any ideas?

Patience is always a virtue when waiting for an in bud plant to bloom. It can seem to take forever. As long as it is still green, and growing, you should be fine. Keep us posted, and good luck.

Kim

The other thing is to transilluminate the sheath to see if there is, in fact, a flower bud inside.....or is the base of the sheath "pregnant" ... can you softly feel a mass at the base of the sheath....if not then most likely this is an empty sheath and may not bear a flower.

Don't touch those sheaths! I have Firedance Patricia and I have had blooms suddenly emerge from dried-out, brown sheaths that had been there for months. I even have one right now that has a double sheath. :scratchhead: Not sure what stimulates the blooms, but I imagine it has something to do with light/moisture. Maybe someone else can weigh in?

I agree with Cat....until the fat lady sings, don't do anything with them. You can carefully check to see if anything is growing inside as I stated above but just leave them alone for now.

Thanks...I am learning patience after 52 years...sort of!

Gregg

Hey Greg,
I have a Firedance 'Patricia' also and it is slow in developing sheathes/buds. My sheathes are just starting to show signs of buds inside and it's been over a month that I have had sheathes. One thing to note. I purchased mine in Feb. 2007 in bloom, and it bloomed again this past summer, and now it will bloom again within a few months. That has to cheer you up some! :cheer:

I've had sheaths pop open 1-1/2 year mark, some of these catts are just freakin crazy ;)
Give her some more time :)

Cattleya sheaths are the strangest things. I've also had blooms emerge from brown dried up sheaths. Last year my favorite Catt. developed several sheaths well ahead of bloom time. All of a sudden they dried up and turned brown but were not removed from the plant. At about the same time she began producing fresh green sheaths from other pseudobulbs and I was thrilled when buds began developing from the fresh sheaths as well as the dried ones. She eventually produced a grand display of 22 blooms.

Well, I guess there is still hope for me, too. I can't begin to tell you how many catts I have with brown empty sheaths! I figured I must be doing something wrong..... wrong food, not enough light, too much water, not warm enough ..... oh, maybe I should have cooled them down.... so we will see what happens....very interesting thread....thanks