Without pics or ID, I can only generalize.

Orchids should bloom at least once a year. Many will bloom more often. In
my experience, 99% of the time, a healthy mature orchid that is growing but
not blooming well is not getting enough light. That would be my guess for
the "every 5 years" plant mentioned by a previous poster.

"Pot-bound" is a term I don't really see as applicable to orchids -- if they
want out of their pots, they just climb on out G. That said, it is true
that many orchids bloom best when they are seriously due (or a bit past due)
for repotting. IMHO, this resolves to a watering issue -- a small orchid in
too large of a pot is easy to over-water.

It's also true that one large plant will give more, bigger, better flowers
than that same plant divided amongst 5 pots (and will also take up less
total space). Maybe you've been making your divisons a little too small, so
they need a year to grow before they bloom again?

Time of repotting could also be a factor. The best time is when there are
new roots/new growths just getting started. This is usually just after they
bloom. If you have been repotting and dividing not long before the usual
bloom time, you might have aborted some blooms due to transplant shock,
which might account for the "off years." Just some ideas,

Kenni


"Faz" wrote in message
news:%vzIj.19877$Cj7.1261@pd7urf2no...
My orchids only flower every second year, is this normal?

The Faz