Cool Dividing Tip Leaves me With a Question

[Cattleya17]

i found this awesome dividing tip right here on the OB
Link:The Cattleya "Cut-Divide-and-Conquer" Multiplier Method - Orchid Board

It really is a Genius idea! It saves you that whole "will this division survive or do well" panic when you have to divide a really nice Cattleya. but it leaves me with a question?? can you do this dividing technique with your other catts that dont need repotting but are growing in a straight line and only putting out only one lead? can you do it to wake up the dormant eyes and help your plant realize it real potential?

Read the article its awesome! and it will help you answer my question. LoL

[dounoharm]

i do that all the time....when an orchid is growing in a straight line, its easy to clip off the front 3-5 leaves and rhizome to pot separately, and leave the back bulbs alone to form new growth from the dormant eyes.....works like a charm....be sure to treat the cut areas with cinnamon or some antifungal/bacterial dressing....keep the new cutting rather dry till it shows new growth of roots....many times the old backbulbs will spill out with growth in diff directions, while the original straight cutting will keep growing in a straight line...

[Cattleya17]

ohh cool!!! My case is i have a plant i like alot but it is only putting out one growth at a time and all my other Cattleyas are putting out multiple growths at once and this one is growing in a straight line, it does not need to be repotted yet maybe another year, so i am wondering if i can use this technique to make it send out growths from the not active parts of the rhizome? to kinda get it to be a multi growth plant. and thus get more bloom stems

[libby]

I do this all the time as well. When done in spring or summer, the back growth usually puts out new growth almost immediately. It seems to make the front growth start growing much more vigorously as well. This is a great way to give you more blooming stems.

[Cattleya17]

Cool operation Invigorate will be in affect tomorrow! i cant wait to see some results!

[natasha]

wow, i didn't know this! must try!

[snow]

i actually have done this many times after reading this on ob. after i devide them and new roots an growths have startes i transfer them directly into sh. where they keep growing on their merry way.
it,s a wonderfull tip

[Ray]

Uh-oh. Here I go again.

If you ever have any intention of showing your plants, cutting a rhizome to multiply the growth fronts will cause it to be rejected from judging.

Some would also argue (not necessarily me, but I'll throw it our for discussion) that a single, large "colony" of growths functions as a single plant, gathering light and producing sugars, absorbing nutrients and storing them, giving it more overall vigor than two smaller colonies could have.

Therefore, if you're not getting multiple leads, you're really not growing your plant as well as you should, and that you're artificially "forcing" the dormant eyes to sprout, which is akin to cutting a phal spike to get reblooming - it works, but weakens the plant.

[libby]

Ray - Is it possible that once the back bulbs are separated, the front can spend more of its energy producing new growth since it doesn't have to support that back growth any more? Same thing with phals - if I remove a couple of old leaves, it begins a growth spurt. I don't mean to be argumentative, but this has been my observation. I guess there are different ways of looking at most anything.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by libby

Ray - Is it possible that once the back bulbs are separated, the front can spend more of its energy producing new growth since it doesn't have to support that back growth any more? Same thing with phals - if I remove a couple of old leaves, it begins a growth spurt. I don't mean to be argumentative, but this has been my observation. I guess there are different ways of looking at most anything.

Of course it's possible, but it doesn't seem logical to me that a plant would continue to "carry" growths that were not contributing anything - it would be a waste of resources.

Don't forget that all God's creatures (except people, apparently) have a driving force - above all else - to live and to carry on the gene pool. Continuing to support parts of the plant that "drain" resources doesn't fit that at all, but resurrecting a dormant eye after a rhizome break certainly does.

If, after the back-bulbs were cut free, the active part of the plant immediately started multiple leads, I might agree more with your interpretation, but it's usually a dormant eye on the back-bulbs that revives and grows.

Addressing Cattleya17's comments, I agree that single- or multiple leads is usually more of a genetic-controlled issue. What I was (apparently poorly) trying to say is that if a plant is genetically predisposed to multiple leads, but isn't doing that, THAT is an indication of a cultural issue.

Also, don't sweat the "argumentative" stuff. Seems to me that's part of the reason we all are here, so we can compare our ways of looking at things for the betterment of all! That is, by the way, why I began my earlier response with "Uh-oh. Here I go again.", so you'all could brace yourselves for my comments.