your plant needs to be repotted. Your current pot is not slowing good drainage. And a plastic pot in another pot is not good. Repot in a clay orchid pot with holes on the side. If you water a lot pot it in lava rock. If you water less use fir bark. bark must be repotted every 2 years. Get help if you never done it before.

What do you do for fertilizer? Make an effort for excellent plant health and flowers will come. Explain your care for this plant. Water, solar exposure etc.

I agree with the repotting. If it were mine, I'd also remove those first 4 p-bulbs that are showing the dark color at the bases. I'd guess that to be some sort of rot that you do not want to progress to the newer/healthier growths.

As far as blooming, it needs more light during the summer months. Oncs/brassias can take a lot of light. Probably no flowers this year, but after repotting and good sun/light next year, you 'should' see spikes/flowers in the fall or winter.

Hard to give any additional suggestions without understanding where you live and the associated care. I'm ass-u-me-ing you live in zone 8 or lower in the US as the brassia is inside currently. If so, put it outside next summer in a brightly lit area with good morning or late afternoon sun. No direct sun from 11AM to 3 or 4PM.

What type of grow light are you using? Unless it is an extreme grow light, you want the top of the plant as close as possible (4"-6") to the light.

Good luck,

Bob

Thanks for the suggestions. I removed it from the pot and yes, it does need a larger pot. The roots look fabulous, however, even the interior ones. I'll remove as much of the old bark media as I can get at without yanking it off the roots that are attached. I do question whether I should cut off the browning PBs. They are totally firm and I don't see any sign of rot. Bob, I live in Zone 4b. Most of my orchids, including this one, spend the summer on the screen porch which, like my sunroom, has a southeast exposure. The grow light is just a normal one and this brassia has been on the top shelf. I don't like putting my orchids outdoors in the summer because of the weather extremes here in Vermont. So, I'll check with Kawamoto orchids first about the PBs to see if maybe it's a genetic thing about the browning. If anyone else sees the need for surgery, please chime in. LOL.

Update: My brassia is waiting for the new bark medium to soak up some water. I did remove 2 pseudobulbs that were off to the side and not supporting leaves. You can see the surgery area dusted with cinnamon. Just for my own information, I sliced open one of the PBs and it's totally healthy-looking inside! Check the photo of it standing up next to the plant. Then I shot a photo showing the roots. Feel free to comment.

I think you are doing the right thing, plant looks good to me.

I also think more light is the answer for getting spikes and flowers again. Get it some direct morning or evening sun if possible this summer. Be sure to ease it into the light so it won't sunburn.

Bob

The cause was a plastic pot in another non orchid pot. No drainage.

Flowering orchids in 4b is good growing! I use a supplement called magi-cal. When I first started using that the frequency of blooming was much better. I also use maxi-crop. Norwegian seaweed juice. A root stimulator. Lots of translucent root tips around here. My fertilizer is orchid plus found at home depot and lowes.

I use Orchid Plus also, plus a pinch of epsom salts.

My search engine shows Magi-cal as a supplement for lawns. Is that what you get, Harvey?

maxi-crop. A real game changer on anything you grow. Immediate feedback with orchids because you can see the roots. The roots get fatter and big translucent tips. That will give you robust orchids or carrots or anything you grow.

All members of our club are users of maxi-crop. A member introduced it to us about 5 years ago. Now we all use it.

I agree with all the above. I do not use maxi-crop but do use cal-mag during growth stages.

I think your problem is sunlight. My brassia's get a lot of sunlight and grow in Florida hanging from trees. They get full morning sun until noon and late afternoon sun. I grow them in wood baskets with bark and sphag.

Fertilizers do not make up for lack of light. Those large leaves need good, strong (not direct hot sun) light.

Repotting was needed and I would work on increasing the light levels. Screened porches can be deceiving. Those screens act like shade cloth and can cut back on much needed light. Use your judgement. Four years is too long to go without flowers. Increase light!

Jane

I do not think it is a light factor. The color of the leaves look good. When they are dark green that means add more light. Not many orchids do well in a plastic pot in another pot with zero drainage. The brown on the bottom of the back bulbs indicate soggy. Jane, you need to try maxi-crop. Once you do you will never stop.

Where's Howard :-)

1) More light is the answer 95% of the time for getting flowers on an orchid that is adding p-bulbs but not developing spikes/flowers over several growing seasons. In zone 4 I'd think it is even more critical to get strong light when possible. With phals it could be a needed temp difference issue, but with that onc/brassia I'd think that was not the issue. BTW: Putting them out over summer/early fall will give them the needed temps swings naturally if it is required.

2) To me those roots look healthy and IMO if it were a pot-in-pot/water retention issue, the roots would be rotten.

3) Truthfully, I'd still be a little concerned about the p-bulb discoloration and would keep a close eye on it to see if the discoloration were to start to increase or spread.

Good luck,

Bob

Update: As of today, June 13, 2018, the plant has produced one blooming spike. I'm hopeful that the other new p-bulb will put one out also. As for the discolored p-bulbs, it's a mystery to me. I have this suspicion that it's something in its genes and not necessarily a problem with its culture. Bonus: the flowers are spicily fragrant. Apparently I haven't killed it...yet.

No comments?

Lovely, you are doing a good job!

I think you have been given a lot of advice and whatever you changed is working. Its always possible your plant was young and wasn't ready to flower.

Next year you might get multiple spikes. My plant is older than yours and gets lots of light and heat. It grows in a wooden basket hanging from a branch.

I use timed release fertilizer and don't fuss over it at all.

Bob, I missed your post and I agree...where is Howard?!!

Jane

Andrea,

Inquiring minds want to know: What did you do differently to induce the spike/flowers?

Bob

Not much. After repotting, I put it about 2' from a southeast-facing window in the sunroom and gave it bloom booster for fertilizer. Kept it in the same size pot. Now it's on the screen porch where I'm hoping to see a 2nd spike before summer is over.

Mine always blooms at the same time. Multiple spikes grow at the same time. I've never had it bloom individual spikes.

Just telling you so you are not disappointed if you don't get a second spike. It might be young and just needs another year to grow.

Jane

Jane, thanks.

Actually the orchid is huge! I don't know what its ultimate size will be, but it's in the largest pot I can buy at Gardener's Supply. I have an older and smaller brassia that does put out 2 spikes in the same time frame. Not sure it will this year because the first one got stuck trying to emerge!

That is a huge blooming Brassia! I am use to the smaler Nodosa crosses/varieties.

Where are you located? Up north? I think that is why you have such good luck with that one. I dont think it would grow here in the deep south. To hot. That dark coloring on your P-Bulbs I think might have been staining from that moss.

From old moss rotting in that pot. It just stained the bulbs, I have it on my Psychopsis' that were potted in moss, when I got them. They never lost that brown coloring. Even after being in bark and a wood slated basket now, still stained brown at the bottom.

PoohBear: There is no moss in the potting mix. I have a new PB forming right now that is about 6" long. Hope to get another flowering spike next spring. Yes, I live WAY up north in VT. I supplement the sunlight in my southeast facing sunroom with artificial lighting during the cooler months. Most of my orchids go out into a screened porch during the summer months.