Perreiraara Sunshine Padriew Not Blooming - Orchid Board

mopwr · #1 09-20-2021, 05:25 PM

I have a Perreiraara Sunshine Padriew that I got some time back from Motes orchids. It arrived in decent condition though it stagnated a bit because I got it shipped to me during some cooler weather (March / April). It's been many months since then and it's been growing really well, it's put on 2-3 leaves (it's at least two new leaves) and it's grown many inches of new roots. I've been growing it warm (80-85F day / 70F night) and bright under my grow lights, so bright at first that it started turning a shade of purple... I've since backed it off to slightly lower light spot and while it still develops hints of purple, it looks good per what I understand it should in response to getting proper / reasonably high light. I've been growing it in a vase culture and fertilizing very frequently (soaking / fertilizing every other day for a half hour).

So, to sum up, the plant looks very good, light geen with purple spotting (from the high light), it's growing pretty fast, both roots and leaves, but so far no spikes. Does this plant require cold treatment similar to winter blooming phalaenopsis in order to initiate a spike? I thought this variety, and most vandas, are free flowering. I can give it more light, and feed it more, but honestly, since it's growing fine and the leaves look appropriate I don't think that that will help anything.

estación seca · #2 09-20-2021, 06:21 PM

I seem to recall it's a winter bloomer. Was it sold as flowering size?

Shadeflower · #3 09-20-2021, 07:25 PM

Q&A - Why doesn't my Vanda orchid bloom? - YouTube

mopwr · #4 09-21-2021, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by estación seca

I seem to recall it's a winter bloomer. Was it sold as flowering size?

It was sold as blooming size and it has an old flower spike, so it's bloomed before. If it is a winter bloomer, that makes sense. It's been growing well, just seems to be missing the "motivation" to throw a spike, and maybe that's when temps drop a bit more.

Regarding the video, I'll take a look, but most of what I've seen so far says that it's either not enough light or not feeding enough, but it's currently getting so much light that it's getting a bit of anthrocyanin on the leaves and I feed it fairly heavily and it's growing a lot. That said, I'll definitely watch and see if there's a good suggestion in there.

WaterWitchin · #5 09-21-2021, 11:18 AM

I thought they bloomed two or more times per year... but could be mistaken?

Shadeflower · #6 09-21-2021, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mopwr

Regarding the video, I'll take a look, but most of what I've seen so far says that it's either not enough light or not feeding enough

No no no... You have to watch the whole video, you cannot watch the first 2 minutes and come to that conclusion.

You are absolutely correct that I do not believe for you it is a light or a fertilizing issue (if anything it sounds like you are fertilizing a lot)

So you have to watch the whole video and you will notice she says if you are fertilizng enough and you are providing enough light then it could be.....

That is the bit I wanted you to watch. I looked up what other people reckon to this question and I could provide you with 10 guides that will all have their different theories.

Most of them rubbish. This video is very good because it actually emphasises the most important thing is that your vanda is mature enough and has enough roots to support flowering.

If you watch the whole video you will get a much better understanding of what an immature orchid looks like and she rightly says that even the best orchid grower would take 3 years to get it to flower

You are aking this question after 3 months. So watch the video. Then ask away.

WaterWitchin · #7 09-21-2021, 12:29 PM

That doesn't make sense to me ShadeFlower... mopwr's vanda has already bloomed. ??

Shadeflower · #8 09-21-2021, 12:52 PM

good observation WW.

To be honest I think we need to see a picture to resolve this one

I did not ignore that fact. Every orchid will produce a little tester flower as it grows up. A lot of times in transport they will suffer a bit. It is not guaranteed that an orchid will reliably bloom every year after its first flowering.

Add transport stress into that and it is very normal for a Vanda to skip a flowering. With phals less so, they are more transport-resistant.

So we can debate about this but we haven't even seen the state o the roots yet

PS: if it is a winter bloomer then everything might be fine and it is too early to speculate anyway.

estación seca · #9 09-21-2021, 01:19 PM

Martin Motes of Motes Orchids wrote that he fertilizes with 1 Tablespoon / 15ml of MSU fertilizer powder per 1 gallon / 3.8 liters of water. Flowering and growth are proportional to nitrogen. I recommend his Vanda book.

mopwr · #10 09-23-2021, 02:42 PM

I've attached photos for reference. There are good roots tips all over and it came from Motes with less than it has now. While this is not as big as some vandas, per Motes, this variety flowers very small - so given the current size it should definitely be bloom size (and was sold as such). On the close up of the new leaves you can see the purple patches it got from getting a bit too much light. It's still being grown very bright, just not enough to make it solid purple anymore.

Quote:

Originally Posted by estación seca

Martin Motes of Motes Orchids wrote that he fertilizes with 1 Tablespoon / 15ml of MSU fertilizer powder per 1 gallon / 3.8 liters of water. Flowering and growth are proportional to nitrogen. I recommend his Vanda book.

Regarding this tidbit, I had heard vandas were heavy feeders, but 1 Tbsp per week is the same or slightly more than I give my catasetums (I typically do 1tsp/gal 3 x week for them) - I had no idea vandas wanted that much. I was feeding them probably the equivalent of 1-2tsp over the course of a week and was worried about burning them at that. I'll try bumping that up and see how it goes.