Liparis viridiflora

Question

I purchased a plant of Liparis viridiflora in May with at least 20 or more sheaths. By November, it had grown so much I had to transplant it. The new growths are also getting sheaths. I have recently tried growing it in a south-facing window with more sun. Will this plant ever flower? —Tina M. Swartz

Liparis viridiflora 'Noriko', CCM/AOS. Exhibitor, Yoshiko Souder. AOS File photo

Answer

This attractive species is listed by Alex Hawkes in his classic book Encyclopaedia of Orchid Species as a winter-flowering plant, so you may expect it to flower for you sometime after late December. It apparently is one of those plants that will make multiple growths during the year, all of them flowering at once in their season. This is considered to be a good trait. From your description, you appear to be growing it under the right conditions, which Hawkes recommends as being for the smaller tropical dendrobiums. I would expect that the plant would benefit from being dried out between waterings and fed infrequently, if at all, during the cooler winter months to encourage spike formation. —Ned Nash