How to coerce sympodial orchids to produce multiple growths?

[turock]

I have several sympodial orchids, some of which continually develop three or four pseudobulbs at a time. But I also have several that seem content to just throw out one pseudobulb at a time.

Are there conditions that determine whether a pseudobulb will throw one or more growths?

[Wynn Dee13]

I think it depends on the orchid. I think it has more to do with genetics than culture. I have some that only grow one lead at a time and some that branch and grow multiple leads. They all get the same culture. I will be interested to see what others say though.

[Orchid Whisperer]

I think it's both nature and nurture.

Nature: Some Catt hybrids I have naturally branch more than others.

Nurture: the happier the plant (especially the roots), the more branching I get.

[turock]

What about if a plant misses a flowering season? I wonder if it would have energy reserves and incentive to produce more growths?

I also know that an extremely stressed or severely divided plant might throw growths from a backbulb. Of course, I don't want to torture my plants or rip them apart, but I do wonder if there's a "healthy" level of stress that might cause them to produce more growths?

[silken]

I've read that if you have old leafless back growths that have been there for a while, it sometimes helps to cut them off. I know there is a theory that those are supporting the plant and not to remove them. And I agree on that for the most part. But at some point I think they may actually be draining the plant. I often find when I re-pot that those old bulbs have no roots, so I don't think they are drawing up nutrients or contributing much if they are some what shrivelled already. I tried it on one plant that just seemed to be sitting dormant. As soon as I lopped off and old and shrivelled bulb or two it started several new growths. May have been a coincidence, but it does make sense that at some point there is no more for them to contribute. And maybe just cutting them off stimulates new growth-who knows

[turock]

Interesting thought, Silken. As a plus, I know that with patience, you can get a backbulb to produce a healthy new plant. I have a couple starting that way, and there's a whole website about it. Orchid backbulbs

[Orchid Whisperer]

I notice that those old pseudobulbs shrink and swell as the plant gets less or more moisture, so I think that they do serve some function to store water and nutrients for the rest of the plant.

Also, I have stimulated old dormant eyes on those leafless, rootless backbulbs by applying keiki paste to them. I use a sterile sharp blade to scrape just barely into the surface cells of the eye and apply a tiny amount of keiki paste to the wound (all this while the old back bulbs are attached to the main plant). I leave it alone for a few months, but when it is time to put plants outdoors in the spring, I separate the old back bulbs and set them in an empty terracotta pot. Any old eyes on which the keiki paste has worked will start a new growth which will develop roots and continue growing.

[ThePinkCucumber]

I try to keep old backbulbs on, I guess I think in terms of 'what isn't broken doesn't need fixing', but in some cases the backbulbs is simply 'in my way' - we have a climbing Max. tenuifolia, and the oldest pbulb would require me to put it in a too large of a pot (it also has a bit of a black spot on it), so I cut it off, popped it into a small pot on its own. A few months later it produced two healthy pbulbs which are now growing happily - eventually I'll have a little plant for trading at our society thanks to this

[Ray]

As long as they are green, old pseudobulbs are still contributing to the well-being of the colony through photosynthesis and storage of energy and nutrients, and if they still have viable roots, uptake, as well.

For what it's worth, and this is nothing more than anecdotal, over the last several years, I have made three changes to my culture - switched to K-Lite, reduce my fertilizer dosage drastically, and started applying KelpMax on a regular basis. I attribute it primarily to the KelpMax, but I am seeing a significant increase in the number of growth fronts.

A single-growth paph became 8 in a year. A 4-growth paph became 20. A 3-growth encyclia became 7, and a single-growth-at-a-time cattleya has gone to 3 or 4 regularly

[Fairorchids]

Some plants are notorious for only producing one lead at a time. If there is no reason to propagate it, I leave it alone.

If for some reason I want a second plant (for breeding, or to share with someone who has asked for a piece), I will force the issue and create a division while it is still in the pot. Ideally I want 4 mature bulbs in the lead division, and then I hope for the best from the backbulbs.