Paphiopedilum bellatulum with buds: what should I do now so that the flower buds do not abort?

[Mafate]

Hi all,

I have had this Paphiopedilum bellatulum for years, and had no problem with it except that it never flowered. Many times, it began spikes but each time they aborted. At the moment, there are 2 new buds, so what conditions should I give my plant at this stage to make it bloom? What temperature? High hygrometry? Fertilization every 2 weeks? Please help me to discover its flowers!

I have checked the roots (transparent pot) and they are numerous and very healthy. Moreover, I have no problem to make my other Brachy bloom.

Could you also give me an idea of how long before the flower buds should open when they are at this stage?

Many thanks for your help.

Sincerely.

 

[GuRu]

Let it just grow, nothing more to do.

 

[Mafate]

Thank you for your answer GuRu.

My problem is precisely that this is what I do every time, and every time the flowers abort. I water my plant once a week, I fertilize it every other week. It is at room temperature on the sill of one of my windows inside my house and for the first time, I placed the plant in a mini greenhouse filled with water to ensure better humidity (the pot doesn't touch the water of course).

Is there anything to fix with these growing conditions in your opinion?

 

[Happypaphy7]

How warm is your room temperature? Other brachys like thainaum, niveum and leucochilum all come from warm to hot regions and they occur near sea level. Bellatulum comes from a very different habitat where it goes through cold (not freezing) winter and also quite a bit of day/night temperature differences.
I have grown and bloomed a few bellatulum at warm indoor set up without issues, but I don't think they will do well long term when kept out of their preferred temperatrue range.
Also, while I'm not sure what potting mix you have, but once a week watering seems much too little in my opinion. I water my paphs in 3.75in about every 3-4 days. Ones in smaller pot every other day.
Then, again, you say you have no problem with your other brachys. So, I am not really sure what might be causing your bellatulum to abort every time it is in bud.
Perhaps, increase the watering frequency and see if it helps?
They do bloom at the onset of rain after a drier period in the wild.
The bellatulum plants I have had, or other brachy, take about two months from the stage shown in your photo to open bloom.
Hope you get to see the flower this time! Fingers crossed!

 

[Mafate]

Thank you very much Happypaphy7 for this detailed answer.

Yes I know that my indoor temperature, around 20°C night and day, might be at the origin of my problem, however I don't really have a cooler place for it, or else it might be really too cold (2 to 4°C at night).

My potting mix is made of 4 parts of pine bark, 2 parts of sphagnum moss, 1 part of oyster shell and 2 parts of perlite. You can see my mix and some of the roots in the picture attached. The pot is 3.35in, so I will try to water it twice a week from now on.

Thank you again for your help.

Regards.

PS: congrats for your wenshanense var. aureum, it is a real beauty!

 

[Bob in Albany N.Y.]

My only thoughts would be to water it more often now that is is bud, however I'd try to keep the bud dry.

 

[Happypaphy7]

Thanks. Wenshanense aureum happens to be a very willing grower and bloomer for me.

Your plant looks to be in good conditions based on your photos.
Regarding the temperature range, if it's constantly 20C day and night, try and move the plant to a cooler spot at night.
20C during the day is a good temperature. I thought it was a lot warmer as some people keep their heat on high in the colder months.
Honestly, I don't really know what the issue might be with your bellatulum.
I have one in bud at the moment. Mine used to bloom around late summer, but these newer ones I got bloom in the dead of winter. Go figure!
My day time temperature is about 18-25C depending on the time of the day. Then, at night, it drops down to 15-10C.
It is sitting on the windowsill with the window cracked open.
But again, my older bellatulum that I kept in the room where it was constantly around low to mid 20s Celsius bloomed fine in the late summer even though the temperature range was really not ideal.
Who knows, your bellatulum might finally make it to open bloom this time around?

I had a couple of plants (emersonii x bellatulum) that would grow well and make a bud every year only to abort itself. It did that for a few years in a row. Some plants might just be having a hard time adjusting to less-than-ideal conditions or just a tough bloomer.
Good lucks!!

 

[Mafate]

Thank you Happypaphy7!

So I will water it more frequently and move it in an unheated room at night. Time will say!

Sincerely,

Sylvain

 

[Happypaphy7]

Fingers Crossed!!

 

[Mafate]

My only thoughts would be to water it more often now that is is bud, however I'd try to keep the bud dry.

Thank you also Bob, your answer is a confirmation that I should try to water it more often.

 

[GuRu]

My only thoughts would be to water it more often now that is is bud, however I'd try to keep the bud dry.

I wouldn't give such advice without knowing all influences. For instance, I water all my Paph every 2-3 weeks (last time more than 3 weeks) and all are doing well since I do it this way. But I never would advice it to other growers because they don't use the same potting medium, they don't grow in the same conditions...and so on.
Furthermore the plant grew under your conditions so strongly ..... so you didn't anything wrong. Only thing I would do is...remove the glass jar which you put over the plant during the bud development.

 

[big923cattleya]

Hi all,

I have had this Paphiopedilum bellatulum for years, and had no problem with it except that it never flowered. Many times, it began spikes but each time they aborted. At the moment, there are 2 new buds, so what conditions should I give my plant at this stage to make it bloom? What temperature? High hygrometry? Fertilization every 2 weeks? Please help me to discover its flowers!

I have checked the roots (transparent pot) and they are numerous and very healthy. Moreover, I have no problem to make my other Brachy bloom.

Could you also give me an idea of how long before the flower buds should open when they are at this stage?

Many thanks for your help.

Sincerely.

4-5 weeks. Keep water out of the center.

 

[big923cattleya]

Hi all,

I have had this Paphiopedilum bellatulum for years, and had no problem with it except that it never flowered. Many times, it began spikes but each time they aborted. At the moment, there are 2 new buds, so what conditions should I give my plant at this stage to make it bloom? What temperature? High hygrometry? Fertilization every 2 weeks? Please help me to discover its flowers!

I have checked the roots (transparent pot) and they are numerous and very healthy. Moreover, I have no problem to make my other Brachy bloom.

Could you also give me an idea of how long before the flower buds should open when they are at this stage?

Many thanks for your help.

Sincerely.

Here is part of my Brachypetalum shelf underlights.
They should never go bone dry. I water every four days or so in seedling bark, charcoal and perlite. I fertilize with a Cal-mag fertilizer at 1/2 tsp. Per gallon. These guys grow on the forest floor on limestone outcroppings. They are in leaf litter with water cascading down these gentle slopes. The plants are a few inches above. I try to keep humidity between 60-80%.

 

[Mafate]

I wouldn't give such advice without knowing all influences. For instance, I water all my Paph every 2-3 weeks (last time more than 3 weeks) and all are doing well since I do it this way. But I never would advice it to other growers because they don't use the same potting medium, they don't grow in the same conditions...and so on.
Furthermore the plant grew under your conditions so strongly ..... so you did anything wrong. Only thing I would do is...remove the glass jar which you put over the plant during the bud development.

Hi GuRu, thank you for your message.

I guess you meant that I did NOTHING wrong instead of ANYTHING, did you?

And do you advise me to remove the glass jar to prevent possible rot? I placed it because I was wondering if the ambient humidity was not too low...

Sincerely.

 

[Mafate]

Here is part of my Brachypetalum shelf underlights.
They should never go bone dry. I water every four days or so in seedling bark, charcoal and perlite. I fertilize with a Cal-mag fertilizer at 1/2 tsp. Per gallon. These guys grow on the forest floor on limestone outcroppings. They are in leaf litter with water cascading down these gentle slopes. The plants are a few inches above. I try to keep humidity between 60-80%.

Wow, nice healthy collection big923cattleya, thanks for sharing.

 

[big923cattleya]

Wow, nice healthy collection big923cattleya, thanks for sharing.

Very welcome

 

[GuRu]

Hi GuRu, thank you for your message.

I guess you meant that I did NOTHING wrong instead of ANYTHING, did you?....

Yes, the type error was my fault. I ment you didn't do anything wrong and I corrected my post.

.....And do you advise me to remove the glass jar to prevent possible rot? I placed it because I was wondering if the ambient humidity was not too low...
Sincerely.

I grow my Brachies on a west facing windowsill without any utilities .... and they like it and flower regularly. Look here how I do it (post #19)

 

[GuRu]

....Here is part of my Brachypetalum shelf underlights.
They should never go bone dry. I water every four days or so in seedling bark, charcoal and perlite. I fertilize with a Cal-mag fertilizer at 1/2 tsp. Per gallon. These guys grow on the forest floor on limestone outcroppings. They are in leaf litter with water cascading down these gentle slopes. The plants are a few inches above. I try to keep humidity between 60-80%.

Hi b923c, my experiences and growing conditions are completely opposit as you can read here (post #19) and I think Brachies don't grow in nature the way you grow them.....but if it works how you do it, then it's o.k.

 

[big923cattleya]

Hi b923c, my experiences and growing conditions are completely opposit as you can read here (post #19) and I think Brachies don't grow in nature the way you grow them.....but if it works how you do it, then it's o.k.

Well where are most Brachypetalums found, SE Asia, old country names like Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, China, and I believe their ranges stretch to India. Just google some of these species.
Where do you think they are from?
Another group of slippers that come from many of the same area are the Parvisepalums, micranthum, armeniacum, delenatii and alike.
But you have your opinion and I have mine. Ultimately if it works for us, regardless of method that is what we go with.
I am in a motel room in Tennessee and I couldn’t sleep. Anxious to see family.

 

[big923cattleya]

As far as why the buds abort on Brachys or on most orchids, I feel that 98% of the time it is improper watering.
Let’s imagine a Phalaenopsis spike developing with 10’buds, the oldest ones are getting plump while the new ones at the tip are just forming. All of a sudden, two older buds dry up and fall off. There is an outside chance it is because of insects, too much warmth, or some other reason but the reason that they fail in my mind is a shortfall in watering. What do I mean by that?
Well we know that when a spike has formed and buds are developing, that’s where the plants energy is focused. Now just assume that the plant needs 25 units of water a day to keep forming that spike and buds. BUT due to a loss of roots because of a sour media, or decreasing humidity, or the owner is not watering often enough, that particular plant is in reality getting 22, 20, 22, 17, 15, 22 units of water each day, this is a “water shortfall”!! That needs to be corrected.
Since that spike and buds are actively growing, and there is a water shortfall, it is quite natural for the plant to abort buds in an attempt to conserve water. Seems only natural.
Think about any orchid flower. What are they made up of, 90-98% water, just like our bodies. Not enough water causes wrinkled leaves, sluffed buds, etc. The root system holds the key. In my experience slippers like these like more water then once every week or ten days.
And do not forget, these areas have Monsoon seasons!!! Oh my goodness. But species like niveum, bellatulum, leucochilum do like a drier winters rest.

Long post I know, that is just the teaching in me!