Fredclarkeara, Catasetum etc - time of flower spike emergence
 

Hello all. For those long-time growers of Catasetum, Fdk etc ....... do any of your plants ever get flower spikes emerging AFTER all the leaves (due to dormancy) have dropped? That is, no signs of flower SPIKES (ie. no visible pre-mature SPIKE or nodule whatsoever) until after all leaves have dropped.

Yes, depending on the species. Some will indeed spike on a dormant bulb. Not Fdk, though, at least in my experience.

Thanks fishmom!

Same as fishmom, though I do have one Fdk that doesn’t bloom until it’s well into its dormancy stage. Mostly it’s my Clowesias that are the late bloomers

Very nice information. Thanks very much SaraJean. When you mentioned doesn't bloom until well into the dormancy stage - this means no presence of any flower spike when leaves have dropped, and then the leafless bulb develops a node that grows into a flower spike, right?

Yep, exactly.

Thanks again SaraJean. This is really great information, as it is nice to know more about the behaviour(s) of the range of catasetum type plants, including Fredclarkeara. Statistics on spike node formation after leaves are gone (dropped) is something I was thinking of asking growers about. This helps a lot!