Iris, I have noticed this with lots of species and hybrids. I have five different B. nodosa, one blooms regularly, two bloom on a very irregular schedule, and my last two are ones I grew from seed sent to me years ago by a friend. The seed grown ones have never bloomed. I think there is a great deal of variety in B. nodosa in its requirements for blooming and its growth characteristics.
I have seen the same thing with Paph. rothschildianum and its hybrids, there are some Paph. rothschildianum's that appear to be great parents, the progeny bloom early and easily. Other Paph. rothschildianum's and their progeny bloom rarely and with difficulty. Paph. rothschildianum 'Borneo' and many of its progeny are easier to grow and bloom, while Paph. rothschildianum "Charles E' and much of its progeny are very slow growing and more difficult to bloom. I have 15 Paph. St. Swithins, those not of 'Charles E' breeding bloom almost yearly, while the plants from 'Charles E' bloom have about 3 to 4 years between blooming. It takes that long for them to mature a growth. These plants are next to each other on the bench and growing under the same conditions. The basis for this is probably genetic, I have no proof of this, but it would be interesting if someone could take the project on and prove one way of the other what is happening. For now, if I have a plant I can not bloom, I give it to someone else and get a different plant from another source, or I get several plants from several sources. This is especially frustrating for the beginner who has a small collection and is just getting stared. They want their plants to bloom and do not want to play the games some of us go through because we have to have a varied collection. My advice, always buy plants in bloom, until you get enough experience you are willing to take the chance on something you are not familiar with and is different from what you normally grow. Always make sure the plant will grow and bloom under your conditions, unless you are willing to make new space just for that plant. I used to grow only Paphiopedilums, and I have since branched out into a variety of genera as I love the diversity in my collection. I love to try something new. --Tom /---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Tom Hillson Agriculture Computer Services Manager |(515) 294-1543 College of Agriculture | Iowa State University ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |"The only thing I have too much of is too little time" At 8:14 AM -0400 5/18/06, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >You recall I complained about a seedling from Carter & Holmes of a >cross between two awarded B. nodosa. It grew & grew but refused to >bloom. (Wild collected B. nodosa from Andy's bloomed normally.) I >had it mounted on tree fern. It was very close coupled; there was >hardly any rhizome between the growths. The leaves were pretty >normal; perhaps a little less terete than you would expect, but >didn't look like a hybrid. I was advised to give it more of a rest >period. Last summer, which was dry & hot, I starved & dried it into >submission. Finally, toward the end of the summer, it produced one >pathetic flower bud. I gave up & put it on the raffle table, hoping >it would perform better for someone with different conditions. >This year I obtained a small division of Bob Wyman's locally famous >B. nodosa 'Linda,' HCC/AOS, from Rochester. It is very rangy, so I >mounted it on a big (for me) piece of cork bark. It has been rooting >like mad & grew a couple of new leaves (a little less rangy under my >conditions). Already, the first new growth has a flower bud. Any >comments on this? >Iris > >_______________________________________________ >the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) >orchids@orchidguide.com >http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com -- _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
