# lovely blooms on multis??



## phraggy (Mar 21, 2015)

I keep on noticing quite a number of multifloral paphs, with gorgeous blooms, are blooming either on single growths or below sized plants for the particular hybrid. I have collection of multis mainly with roth parentage. My question is my multis have yet to flower but are putting out new growths quite regularly. They get plenty of light a minimum temp of 14c rising to around 25c. the humidity never drops below 70% and the air movement is such that the plants are moving slightly.I feed at half strength very two weeks. Am I doing something wrong or do I just have to be patient and let things happen??
Most of them are big enough to flower compared to the plants I see.

Ed


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## Justin (Mar 21, 2015)

maybe feed weekly instead and see if the results are good for your plants. it just takes a lot of patience, but i think newer breeding multi's do seem to flower sooner.


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## mrhappyrotter (Mar 21, 2015)

phraggy said:


> ... I have collection of multis mainly with roth parentage...



There's your problem! All kidding aside, depending on your climate and growing conditions, roth and its hybrids can be stubborn when it comes to blooming. I know a lot of people in my area with "shrubs" of various roth hybrids that have never or rarely bloomed.

Some of it comes down to genetics. For instance, roth x parvi crosses are notoriously hesitant bloomers, and a lot of the older roth clones are also known for this.

Granted, in some areas, people don't seem to have this issue. Not sure if it's climate or some other factor, though. But I also know that other multiflorals (species and hybrids) don't have this reputation, and in fact, seem to bloom mostly without issue around here, so it seems to indicate that it's an issue with specific species.


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## Happypaphy7 (Mar 21, 2015)

So which ones are the ones without such issues?


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## SlipperKing (Mar 21, 2015)

phraggy,
I went back and looked at all your threads and I didn't fine a single multi posted. Lots of Phrags, some single flowered plants and a cat or two. Are you blooming Catteleyas on a regular basis? I'd really like to see your plants in their growing area. Can you post a few PICs? Normally, if you are blooming Phrags and Cats repeatedly I would say your light is fine. What is your irrigation water like? City supplied? 
One last thing you might consider is the use of gibberellic acid at 25 mg per liter and spray the plants you want to bloom, 10 days to two weeks later repeat then set and wait. You first have to dissolve GA in a little bit of ethanol, methanol or 70% isopropyl alcohol then bring it up to one liter. One word of caution, avoid plants you deem immature or weak. This plant hormone is know to bring on flower production. Google search GA and you should fine a reference paper where the researchers sprayed 10 plants of a multi X Maudiae type with GA alone, GA plus another hormone and a third without. All ten plants bloomed with 3 plus spikes per plant with the GA alone


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## NYEric (Mar 21, 2015)

Juicing! :evil:


This is most likely the issue. Multies that bloom small have gardin, or stone parentage. 


mrhappyrotter said:


> TI know a lot of people in my area with "shrubs" of various roth hybrids that have never or rarely bloomed.
> 
> Some of it comes down to genetics. For instance, roth x parvi crosses are notoriously hesitant bloomers, and a lot of the older roth clones are also known for this.


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## AdamD (Mar 22, 2015)

Do you give your plants 'seasons'? If kept in optimal growing conditions at all times the plants will want to continue to grow. Multis generally initiate spikes during a period of autumn like climate. I have learned to give my plants distinct seasons in artificial environments by cooling the temps, reducing water a bit, decreasing or increasing light duration by 5 minutes per week (depending on the time of year), etc...


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## tnyr5 (Mar 22, 2015)

What Adam said! Also, could you give us some examples of the plants you have and their leaf spans, number of growths, etc.?


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## phraggy (Mar 22, 2015)

tnyr5 said:


> What Adam said! Also, could you give us some examples of the plants you have and their leaf spans, number of growths, etc.?



Will get a few pics off in the next couple of days.

Thanks for all the information/

Ed


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## ALToronto (Mar 22, 2015)

What's 'half strength' for fertilizer? It's a completely meaningless term, since fertilizer producers don't standardize their concentrations. Regardless, you're overfeeding by a large margin. Go to firstrays.com, find the fertilizer calculator in the Free Info section and figure out how much you need to use for 20-25 ppm N; less if you start watering more frequently. You'll find that you need about 1/10 or less of what you've been using.


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## phraggy (Mar 25, 2015)

Sorry no pics my computer is playing up. I've taken the pics with regard to sizes etc., and used ' manage attachments'. Although I can upload the pics the computer wont let me 'close the window' so that I can post on STO. Could this be a STO problem or is definitely this machine?? As soo as the problem is solved will post.
Ed


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## phraggy (Mar 27, 2015)

As promised the plants.

Ed

1) Berenice 26" leaf span 3 growths

2) Hung Sheng 'eagle' 2 growths 24" span.

3) Lady Isabel 1 large growth + 2 small growths 27" span.


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## emydura (Mar 27, 2015)

Those plants look to be healthy and really well grown. They are not massive specimen plants that won't flower. I don't see anything to be worried about. I think it is much better that your new growths get quite large before the plant flowers. I hate it when a plant flowers as a single growth with no new leads. They can take a long time to recover, if at all. Strong multiple growth plants like yours will kick on nicely after you have flowered it. You may be taking longer to flower your plants but in the long run you will be much better off.


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## Justin (Mar 27, 2015)

agree with everything david said. i would expect blooms in the next season which is probably very early 2016.


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