C. aurantiaca blooms don't open

[Dorothy]

He has blooms .. they just aren't opening ..

[Leisurely]

Has your plant bloomed properly since you have had it? You implied that the buds have never opened properly. C. Aurantiaca is self pollinating and is prone to either not open up its flowers or they open only for a couple of days and slowly perish because they are pollinated. I had a plant that did exactly what yours did and after two flowering seasons with buds and no flowers, I trashed it and bought a new one that performs beautifully. I know it's hard to get rid of a nice looking plant but we grow them for the flowers, not for the foliage.

[Ross]

Jerry, don't want to hijack this thread, but my Miltonia that has opened blossoms faithfully for several years din't open buds this year. Might there be a correlation? Such as sunlight or weather?

[Leisurely]

Ross, If she were talking about her Miltonia, I would be inclined to agree that it could be a cultural problem but she is not talking about her Miltonia. C. Aurantiaca is historically known to do just what her plant is doing and what mine also did. I strongly believe the problem is strictly something that is indigenous to the species. Some perform normally, some don't.

[JMorales]

I agree with Jerry. Here in Mexico several people have that same situation and it is because the Guariante Aurantiaca is a self polinated species. The question is why some plants do that and others dont.
Juan Morales
Tepoztlan, Mexico

[Gin]

Interesting I have an old one that has been grown under all types of conditions, lots of sun, not enough sun, indoors under articicial light , outside all summer not outside at all held in the green house ..flowers always open .
Dorothy have you checked for scale they can also cause problems .. Gin

[Lagoon]

I think it was a fairly reasonable question that Ross put out. Many orchids share the same problems, it's up to us to get it figured out. Maybe a love / hate feeling at times.

I'm glad to learn that sometimes it really has nothing to do with us and more of the habit of any orchid

[Ray]

I'm glad that Jerry brought that up.

C./G. aurantiaca (the plant doesn't care what you call it) is quite variable in the extent to which the blossoms open, and while cuture can affect to to some degree, genetics is a far stronger player.

Those that open more tend to be the select cultivars. I had a number of selfings of 'Lemon Drop', a bright lemon-yellow cultivar that is quite "open", and the offspring varied in both color - some being the "standard" orange - and "openness", even though they were raided under identical conditions.

[Dorothy]

Originally Posted by Gin

Dorothy have you checked for scale they can also cause problems .. Gin

Scales on my...? ?
or my ?

So far so good here with my orchids!
Thanks for the concern!