Little purple specks are "happy marks". Almost like the beginnings of a sun-tan in humans. It means the plant is in adequate light to bloom.

A lot of catts need about a 20F temperature differential between night and day in order to bloom. Some of them make sheaths, some of them just bloom from the center without sheaths (My Blc. Goldenzelle makes some HUGE sheaths, while my Blc. Momilani Rainbow never makes sheaths--the buds just pop out shortly after the bifolate leaves open.) In my catt growing area, day temps top out at 82F but at night I'm down to about 59.5F. (That's in my east window growing area, we run the air conditioner a lot at night [along with the humidifiers]. We both like a very cool room to sleep well, and the plants like it too.)

In short, there is nothing you can do to force the plant to bloom other than to ensure that your culture is good.





[quote=The two new leaves have long ... well, I guess you could say, sectioned sheath-type things on them that are speckled purple (they just grow this way, doesn't appear to be a burn issue). A couple of the sections' edges are starting to cup away from the stems, but so far nothing seems to be coming out of them. Any ideas how to get this stubborn little orchid to bloom? [/quote]