Anyone ever seen siamese p-bulbs?

[gixrj18]

I've had this Blc. Walanie Leopard 'Ching Hua' for about two years. Last year, it's light conditions were too low to bloom, so it didn't bloom at all last year. Now that it has started active growth season, it seems to be pushing out siamese p-bulbs. They start out looking like regular keikis....then, like butterflies emerging from a cocoon, they morph out of the previous keiki skin as two p-bulbs. Has anyone ever seen this, or know what may cause it?

[Blueszz]

That's weird Jasen. Have you used plant hormones or pesticides?
Nicole

[gixrj18]

Originally Posted by Blueszz

That's weird Jasen. Have you used plant hormones or pesticides?
Nicole

I use KLN in the winter, and Neem oil for pesticide.

[RosieC]

I heard of KLN in higher/prolonged doses causing flower mutation in Phals, although I've never seen it.

No idea if it could be something similar, it just sprang to mind when you mentiond KLN.

[Baz in Oz]

Jasen, I am currently watching Otara pink delight "Burdekin" do the siamese act.
The new growth started out much larger then usual and eventually divided and they are both now about 4" high.
I was told that this could possibly be the result of an injury.

Baz

[Royal]

I believe they prefer the term, "conjoined."

Seriously, that's wierd. I do know that repeated (and repeated, and repeated) cloning via continuous proliferation can sometimes make the occasional mutation. This is a pretty popular clone, I'd bet they're meristemming lot of them. I got one as a baggie orchid last year, but mine just looks normal.

[Des]

Do you perhaps have a nuclear power station nearby !?
This is sometimes caused by cloning . I have a catt that has the strangest flower it flowers with three large petals and nothing else, it is very pretty , strange and quite useless but I keep it as a conversation piece .

[limuhead]

The phenomenon you are seeing is becoming more and more common lately. Although I can not be absolutely sure I believe the cause is a mutation due to overcloning. I have seen it many times in commercial nurseries and this is the reason I try to avoid buying clones. Blc. Waianae Leopard 'Ching Hua' is an outstanding summer bloomer that is extremely fragrant but has been cloned and those clones have been cloned again and again, resulting in various mutations. I had the same clone that had so many flowers (over 20 per infloresence) that none of the flowers could fully open, it ended up in orchid heaven because the plant was too big and out of control...

[orchidsamore]

Blc. Waianae Leopard grows with twisted bulbs and leaves. A part of it is genetic.

It is often not a pretty plant.

The beautiful fragrant flowers make up for a lot of distortion in the leaves.

[catwalker808]

If the abnormal growth only occurred recently, the cause is probably cultural. Excessive use of fertilizer can cause the fusing of new leaves or apical growth. Your leaves are not especially dark green, so this may not be the case. Certain pesticides can also cause stunting or abnormal growth (sometimes in conjunction with fertilizer).

If your plant has some sort of unusual growths in the past, the cause might be genetic.

Cloning (and for that matter, seed culture) can result in mutations if not done properly or responsibly. Many times strong chemicals are used to proliferate orchid clones more rapidly. If a mutation occurs early on in the process, then many or most of the resulting clones may be mutants also. Sometimes, tens or hundreds of thousands of clones are made from a single cutting of a source plant. This enhances the risks. Sometimes certain source plants are somewhat unstable in the cloning process, which can also lead to unstable clones.
Repeated recloning of unstable clones can lead to disaster.

Careful and responsible cloning procedures produce good stable plants. So let's not burn all the people with black clothes and carrying brooms. And let's not throw out the baby with the bath water ... etc.
Clones can be a very good source of excellent material. They might be the only way for many hobbyists to get specific plants.