Actually - many of the Spring-flowering Cattleyas will bloom from a dry, brownish sheath.

Bree,
How often do you water your paphs? Temps in winter and summer?
I sometimes cut across the top of a sheath with scissors or peel it off. But when I peel, I can knock of buds! Hate that. So I try to leave them alone unless the buds look trapped.

I cut off a bunch of the brown sheaths a couple of years ago in an effort to clean things up a bit...
Imagine my surprize when I got buds out of the stubble of the cut off sheath...
Those a 2 beautiful Cats, Ursula...get the floof meter out!

I learned that lesson the hard way too.

Ursula, very nice Catts. I like them both.

Jim

I'm just back from watching the movie "Les Miserables". We enjoyed it very much.

Jim

I always peel open shealths to let the buds come out easier and havent had any problems.
Kathy- i dont water as much as i should, once a week maybe twice if real hot. In summer its about 30 deg and minimum in winter is about 10 deg (sorry i only know degrees celcius), we hardley get cold enough for a frost. All my orchids are just under shadecloth all year round. I must admit my paphs and Cymbidiums look better in winter and get a little spotty over summer from the heat ad high humidity but they seem to flower fine. I really need fans in my greenhouse in summer but its not really big enough and id want solar ones. We do live on a river so we do get a breeze a lot of the time.

Bree, your climate is perfect for growing Orchids, you are so lucky!!

I find that especially this year many of my Cattleyas don't open their blooms all at the same time, the spikes are staggered in growing and flowering stages. It doesn't make for a Oh Wow show, but then stretched out blooming seasons aren't bad either.
I assume the reason for that is that all my Orchids spent some Spring and all Summer outside and must have gotten some different signals as the weather/temps changed.
Then they go back into the greenhouse and the environment changes again. I also had lost some good growth due to black rot this Summer and those afflicted Orchids started to grow again once inside.

Jim, I like to see Les Mis next!

Thanks Bree. I think I will water my paphs less. 10 degrees C is 50 degrees F. But mine are only that cool in late summer/fall. In winter they are in the 60 degree range. I have been watering every other day, probably too much.
Ursula, I am getting less bloom on many orchids this year and lots of my old faithful ones aren't budding. It seemed like more leaves burned this bright sunny summer which is unusual for New England. I had no rot because I used tarps to control the amt of rainfall. Once a day in morning is what I allowed. If it didn't rain, I watered in the AM. I was hoping that all the light would produce more blooms but it mostly burned them and they were in the shade with afternoon shade cloth! It was like living in NC! So much light!

Kathy, if I may?
The tarp will surely prevent rot, but I do believe there is a trade-off in not getting those Orchids, which need to be in the sun to bloom, (like Schomburgkias, some Laelias etc) truly used to bright sun. Is it perhaps possible not to use a tarp, but use a fan ( yes, even outside) to dry up the plants quicker. It may not be practical for long periods of rain, but for those Summer showers it may not be so cumbersome?

Now I live South of you and do not use a tarp or a shade cloth ever over my sun-loving orchids. And yes, I do lose every Summer several plants due to rot, not a good thing. But some of the Cattleyas have still live eyes and start to produce later growth. So not all is always totally lost.
As I said - I would call it a trade-off? Tarp = no rot, but less sun = less blooms?
In your case I would consider rigging up something different to protect them from the sun only during the first two weeks or so outside, and then slowly skip the protection for the sun-needing Orchids. No netting after the initial "getting used to be outside".

Something to think about?

A first time bloomer for me, Lc. White Spark 'Panda', has opened its first bud. Many more to come.

Jim

Thats a beautiful one Jim! Kathy/Ursula i have abig roll of thick clear plastic that i chuck over my greenhouse if it rains alot. I dont know about watering less, unless your getting root rot in your orchids. I was but now all my orchids roots are dry when i repot(depends on how much rain weve been getting). I can never seem to water enough. I do usually hurry to do it in the morning before work. They dont get enough fertiliser either as thats even more time consuming.

Jim, what beautiful colors, exciting!

Bree, I can tell you that it is totally disheartening to see the new growth on your "dear-to-heart- Cattleya turn brown/black and collapse. And if you are out of luck the whole thing turns black, bye bye.... Not happy when that happens, and it does!

Here is a cute one - I bought this Bulbophyllum lasiochilum in Febr 2011, I think from Piping Rock Orchids. I have been watching a single fat bud and today it opened! But there is another bud forming....


And wonders never cease, I have a Den kingianum flowering here and there for some weeks. I placed it right next to the greenhouse entrance, it smells so nice!


And happily my Dendrobium smilliae is starting up!

I'm convinced that orchid growing is NOT for the faint of hart, unless you live in the tropics. I've only LOST a couple, but between the scale, and the yoyo weather we've had this past year, my Catts are on life support, the less finicky ones have been giving less blooms than normal...even Gerberara is suffering from too much rain this year. We're still below normal, but between showers we've had heavy fog. Had to put her in the shack to dry out a bit. On the plus side, I do have a paph almost open, and another one in bud. Go figure. I guess it's folks like us that keep the growers in business.

Thanks Bree. I think I will water my paphs less. 10 degrees C is 50 degrees F. But mine are only that cool in late summer/fall. In winter they are in the 60 degree range. I have been watering every other day, probably too much.
Ursula, I am getting less bloom on many orchids this year and lots of my old faithful ones aren't budding. It seemed like more leaves burned this bright sunny summer which is unusual for New England. I had no rot because I used tarps to control the amt of rainfall. Once a day in morning is what I allowed. If it didn't rain, I watered in the AM. I was hoping that all the light would produce more blooms but it mostly burned them and they were in the shade with afternoon shade cloth! It was like living in NC! So much light!

I dont lose many catts, if anything there too dry.

Ursula, your Dendrobium smilliae is going to be a spectacle ! Are those spikes coming out of older canes?
For me, growing these beautiful flowers is a testimony of ' the triumph of hope over experience '.. and every
once in a while the planets line up just so...and I am rewarded with a beautiful gift!
I do not pretend to know even a fraction about how it happens, I'm just thrilled when it does!

Thanks Lindsey.
Yes, I did pick up this Den smilliae thinking, "hopefully I can re-bloom it!" I am tickled pink now to see buds!!
And yes, the new clusters of buds are so far only emerging from older, bare canes. So I am thinking, the plant should be alright, since it did produce some good new canes over the Summer.

Iti s going to be beautiful. I still like yours over my alba form.

Happy New Year everyone. Stay safe!!

Jim

Thanks Jim, I like it very much.

Happy New Year!! See you all in our new thread for January
The thread "Happy New Year or our Orchid Blooms in January 2013" in Orchids forum