cattleya growing but not blooming

[Orchids4ever]

Never ever give up on your Orchids, my Catt was making a sheath last year and it got bigger and bigger and i was wow-lots of blooms this Year-but as time went on -nothing growing inside,then the sheath turned yellow-brown -and then dried up.Bummer. So about 6 weeks ago i cut off the dried up sheath and hoped for the best for this year.This Morning as i was watering the Plants-- Low and behold what did i see-Buds!!! yahoo.
So it goes to show us they do what they want to do when they are good and ready and not when we want them too.

[newone]

I have 3 or 4 catts that bloom after the sheath has died and gone on it way. Then I see buds developing. This is not unusual for some catts. I am just not even getting and sheaths to give false hopes. If I could see a sheath, that would give me hopes that the next time maybe I would get flowers. My Digbyana sheathed last year but no buds. This year I am seeing several sheaths with buds growing in them.

[james mickelso]

Yes. All good suppositions. Declining light could be a trigger. I know that in some species calcium is a must to get blooms but I don't have any specifics. For hybrids parentage is key. As for when I switch to a low N vs P and K I wait until the pbulb is about half mature. I judge this by how fat the lower part of the new pbulb has gotten. Once the pbulb starts to fatten I switch. It's not the percentage of the fertilizer but just the ratio of N to PK. For those who get good flower production using a balanced fertilizer, their culture is probably good. Lots of my orchids bloom with little help from me. But for those reluctant bloomers the switch is just something I try and it has worked well. I have better light down in this latitude than those farther north so light isn't as big a factor for me. As for the AOS articles, I have a couple big boxes of AOS mags that I am always reading so it takes a while to run into where I read x,x, or z. But I re-read them all the time so I will look. This about when I switch.

[newone]

James, how did you post those pics. I am very computer illiterate so if you could give me easy detail (complex adjetives) instructions, I would love to show my plant in question.

[silken]

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ng-photos.html Check this link out.

[newone]

here is my first attempt

[newone]

Thank you silken for the help with posting pictures.

[isurus79]

Very healthy plant! I'd say a repot is in order too. lol

[newone]

Would reporring help with flowering as it would relieve overcrowding? It is still all filling the pot but not yet growing over edges.

[Brooke]

Are the white spots scale?

It is over crowded because the new growth is piling on top of the older growth. Would it help it to bloom? I doubt it but it might give it better conditions. As it looks in the picture the newer growth might not be getting enough moisture.

Brooke