Catasetum mystery plant

[smweaver]

I bought this plant two years ago from what I like to call the last-stop-before-the-dumpster table at a local nursery. The only information printed on the tag was "Catasetum species." It's since grown very well for me for the past two summers. But I have yet to see any flowers. I know it's difficult to identify species from this genus when the plants aren't in flower, but I'm still hoping that someone on this site might be able to make an educated guess about which species it might be. The leaves are very waxy and are just now starting to fade. The plant gets full morning sun between 7:00 and noon when it spends the summers outdoors between early May and early October. It spends its winters among the Angraecums, and I only water it very sparingly if the bulbs start to shrivel a lot (it gets watered once every four to five weeks between October and March). No spikes come up with the initiation of new growths in the spring, and none are seen in the fall after the leaves die. I'm at a loss as to what species this is, and also as to what I should be doing to encourage it to flower. Any feedback would be great. Thanks!

Steve

[isurus79]

Wow, thats a nice looking plant. I dont think anyone would be able to ID that plant without flowers. Also, a plant that big getting a lot of full light might actually put out female flowers anyway!! Then you would still not know what species it was! I really have no idea why your plant is not flowering. Sometimes it just takes some orchids a while to recover from really stressfull situations. I think patience is your best bet for now, and maybe slightly shadier conditions for some male flower during next growing season. Good luck!!

[euplusia]

Your plant has grown well. But there is no increment in the size of the bulbs. And there is no way to tell the species without flowers.
With the beginning of the next growing season I would divide the plant, repot it and two months later I would give a constant supply of water and fertilizer. Catasetums are heavy feeders.
A strong plant will always produce flowers.You can rely on that. Then post the flowers here if you need help.

[Florida_guy_26]

I am new here guys, but from what I can see of your Catasetum it still looks a bit small in terms of plant hight. I would hold off on dividing since it has not flowered yet because that would only take it even longer to bloom but it doesnt have a new pseudobulb that can take 3 back bulbs with it safely. I constantly fertilize my plants in the growing season with a weak dose of fertilizer but I would say in the growing season fertilizing it every other watering would be fine if you keep it weak. They do need to be fertilized regularly though- do you feed enough when in growth? I have found that using a combination of fertilizers in weak doses also helps orchids grow slightly faster which may help your plant get the hight it needs. It does look like your plant needs some more growth -be patient as it may not be big enough to bloom yet. Understand it takes LOTS of energy for any plant to bloom, but orchids will actually kill themselves trying to bloom if they are big enough.

[smweaver]

Thanks, everyone, for your feedback. Since the plant has not yet flowered for me, I do think that keeping it intact, and not splitting it in two, is probably not such a bad idea. The newest pseudobulbs are each approximately seven inches tall (not including the twelve inch by three inch leaves) and close to two inches in diameter. I didn't think this was a seedling, based on the size of the newest growths, but I'll fertilize it more next summer (for the last two summers I've given it 1/8 tsp. per gallon of water each week, and I've used the MSU-style fertilizer that's formulated for reverse osmosis water). It's a trouble-free plant to take care of. So I'll keep it around until it decides that it's ready to put on a show. Thank you again for all of your assistance.

Steve