Lc. Fire Dance 'Patricia' sheath dried out
 

My Lc. Fire Dance 'Patricia' has not bloomed for the last 3 years. Each new sheath gets about 2 inches tall and then dies. Lighting is good and I fertilize weakly, weekly. Any ideas what could be causing this? Also what is the HR3270 in front of the name on the tag? Thanks for any help.

Grow these in bright light, allowing them to dry between watering....East or West window, these plants will benefit from a couple of hours of direct sunlight in the early morning(up to 10am) or late afternoon(3 pm til dusk) providing it’s not too hot to burn the leaves.

The sheath must not dry out, sometimes it takes too long to have a bud inside the sheath(be patient and dont cut it off even if it looks dried up)...do not move the plant if in sheath...humidity is a very important factor

Cattleya family blooms depends on the daylight intervals of the solstice not on cold temperatures like Phals...that is why blooms must be related to sunset and sundown of the seasons not the temperatures.

I give mine three hours of morning sun and it has bloomed every year. I have always loved Patricia usually and easy bloomer. try more sun

the numbers on the tag are simply the tracking numbers the original grower used to track plant varieties....not of any importance.....give it more light, almost to the point of burning the leaves for good blooms.....catts need loads and loads of light! gl

What is your usual temperature in the growing area? What is the light level like and how long is it in this light? What are you feeding it? Are you letting it go through it's dormant period after it has put out a sheath before the new pbulbs start growing again? Try this the next time your newest pbulb has grow half way to maturity. Change to a bloom booster food. The primordial buds start to develope when the pbulb is halfway through it's growth phase. That is when you can help the plant in this process. Before the new pbulb bud starts to grow, let the plant go dry for a week. Then water. Let dry for another week, then water. Start watering sparingly until the bud starts growing larger, then increase watering. Feed lightly at first then more as you increase watering. Once the new growth is halfway through it's growth cycle then switch food to a high phosphous/potassium food. Water copiously when dry. It also now needs lots of air movement and light. As much light as you can give it short of sunburn. That should stimulate it to produce buds within the sheath. It worked for me with Waiania Leopard.

Thanks, everyone, for your help. I will try your suggestions and hope for blooms. :bowing