Old wive's tale??

[L I Jane]

Years ago, I remember hearing that paphs had to have at least 3-4 sets of leaves established before they bloom. Does this hold true or is it an old wive's'
tale? I've often wondered as I'm actually not sure if a plant is BS or not when I look at it.Any comments ???

 

[Mahon]

What do you mean by sets of leaves; 2 leaves = set? =)

-Pat

 

[L I Jane]

Yes, I do mean that.I call a set, 1 leaf on each side.

 

[Mahon]

Okie, I see now...

Paph. helenae, Paph. henryanum, Paph. tranlienianum, and some others I can't think of now only need 5 leaves until bloom (2.5 sets)...

-Pat

 

[silence882]

It depends on the species. In general a plant will need at least 4-6 full-size leaves to bloom. For the multiflorals it's more like 5-8 and the barbata types 3-5.

--Stephen

 

[Mahon]

I just remembered... my Paph. hookerae var. volonteanum from Matt Gore has only 3 leaves to bloom... that's 1.5 sets... =)

-Pat

 

[Rick]

Okie, I see now...

Paph. helenae, Paph. henryanum, Paph. tranlienianum, and some others I can't think of now only need 5 leaves until bloom (2.5 sets)...

-Pat

I've seen these three and barbigerum often blooming on a total of 3 leaves.

But I prefer to see a new growth to assess maturity. Although it seems like allot of my barbata types put on growths after a blooming rather than preceding it.

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

It depends...a seedling may not bloom until it has many pairs of leaves. But once it starts to grow offshoots, the situation changes. The Maudiae types will frequently bloom several times a year, on seemingly small and immature growths...this will also happen with species in that group, like sukhakulii. On the other hand, the insigne types need at least 18 months to mature a growth, so there have to be plenty of leaves for them. Take care, Eric