"Phrags" refuse to bloom.

[Donald]

I have great luck with growing all my orchids but these two:
Phrag. wallisii (species - 'Dutch Treat x sell)
Phrag. Jason Fischer (Mem Dick Clements 'Rocket Flash' 4N x besseae 'Cow Hollow II' FCC/AOS.

They are potted in bark and the medium is kept moist. They spent the summer outdoors and have yellow-green colored leaves, no root rot, and get plenty of light. What am I doing wrong? They get rain water for moisture and are fertilized weakly. I'm at wits end as to why these two refuse to respond.

[kinknstein]

I had a lot of trouble reblooming my Phrags until this year. The grower I purchased them from advised bumping the light up to 1500fc, and I have now bloomed two of them, the Phrag Sorceror's Apprentice and Phrag Tall Tails. I am by no means an expert, maybe some other members of the board have some ideas.

[dounoharm]

yes giving them more light works for me..they grow in near cattleya light in my gh....and sit in a saucer of water....

[quiltergal]

Yep, more light and a saucer of water are the ticket.

[Lagoon]

Donald,

Both of these Phrags are known to be the more difficult to bloom.
Are they bloom size? How many fans? whats the their leaf spans?

[Psyguy10]

I hate to be an echo, but increasing the light usually works. Also, Phragmipedium species are known to be slow when it takes them to bloom. If these have bloomed before for the first time it can take 2 years for them to mature out growths, thus reblooming.

[Donald]

These "Phrags" are 4 years old. They last bloomed 2 years ago. They are sitting in saucers of water. They get upwards of 2500fc when they are inside and are kept under shade cloth with my other orchids during the summer. The leaf span on one of them is 20 inches and the other is 13. Would taking them out of the bark and repotting in sphagnum help? Thank you everyone.

[Psyguy10]

Donald, I'm not sure, but I'd say your Phrags simply need more time to mature out their growths. wallisii is known to be tricky to rebloom, as well.
As for potting into sphagnum moss is up to you, I have my phrag. Giganteum in a clay pot with fine bark and some lava rock chunks, I water it whenever it approaches dryness (so, i water every 2-4 days)
Good luck Donald, I know that some orchids can be a pain to bloom, just be glad it isn't a paphiopedilum that takes 12 years to bloom

[smartie2000]

Bumping up the light definitely did it more me!!

[terrestrial_man]

While light may be seen as a stimulus to increased flowering where the flower bud primordia have been retarded in breaking out due to low light levels, it is temperature fluctuations and the length of night that induce the initiation of flower bud primordia. This is true of all flowering plants. You should try and produce at least a 20 degree difference in the temperature from a low temperature around 5AM to a high temperature around 3PM. If this does not work try lengthening the day while pushing the temps. The answer is probably in finding the right combination to encourage your plant to flower.
You may want to check out temps in Ecuador (Quito, which sets at 3000m) for a guide to the type of temperature extremes that occur in the area where phrag species can be found.