Can a Catt alliance have a keiki ?

[gngrhill]

I have a SLC. Jewel Box 'Sheherazade' that seems to have a growth where a sheath should be. It even looks like it has a little root bud if you can see down in there. Can Catts have keikis or do they sometimes grow another stem off of a stem ?

[Orchid Whisperer]

That's a new one to me. Never seen that before, or heard it happening with a Cattleya alliance plant. Keep us posted on how it develops. If it does develop roots etc I would not separate it from the main plant until it has formed another growth from that "keiki"

[gngrhill]

Originally Posted by Orchid Whisperer

That's a new one to me. Never seen that before, or heard it happening with a Cattleya alliance plant. Keep us posted on how it develops. If it does develop roots etc I would not separate it from the main plant until it has formed another growth from that "keiki"

I don't even know how I would remove it without damaging the mother plant.

[RJSquirrel]

yes they pop up little pups at times instead of buds in a sheath. It wont grow or do anything but die. I Cut em off. Save the plants energy for what it needs to be doing.

My brassavolas do that a lot. Instead of buds I get little leafs pop up out of the crease. Snip snip..

[WhiteRabbit]

It's not super common, but it does happen.

[PaphMadMan]

Originally Posted by RJSquirrel

yes they pop up little pups at times instead of buds in a sheath. It wont grow or do anything but die. I Cut em off. Save the plants energy for what it needs to be doing.

My brassavolas do that a lot. Instead of buds I get little leafs pop up out of the crease. Snip snip..

New green tissue just adds to the strength of the plant, no matter where it is. A leaf is a leaf no matter where it grows. Green = photosynthesis = more energy, not less. And sometimes a growth like this can continue to develop. There is certainly no reason not to let it go and see what it does.

[gngrhill]

Originally Posted by PaphMadMan

New green tissue just adds to the strength of the plant, no matter where it is. A leaf is a leaf no matter where it grows. Green = photosynthesis = more energy, not less. And sometimes a growth like this can continue to develop. There is certainly no reason not to let it go and see what it does.

Thanks for that. I intend to let it go where it will. the plant does have a couple of sheaths, so I think 'no foul' and see what happens.

[Paul]

As PPM stated, the extra growth will still photosynthesize and thus provide food for the plant. The new pb will still act as a storage organ just as all pbs do. And while it is uncommon for such growths on catts or oncids to form roots so they can be grown on their own, it does happen once in a while. So long and short of it is -- if it is driving you nuts, cut it off. If it doesn't bother you, let it be.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Strange, I have never see it before.

[Fairorchids]

I had never heard of this, till this past December.

At the local AOS Judging Center, I got 3 plants in the fundraising auction. One of those was a keiki of a natural Laelia hybrid (L x fincheniana), produced by a plant at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.

Correction: Reed stem Epidendrums do it all the time.