Cattleya, var unknown, question about canes

[Mhead01945]

I have a cattleya from Hawaii a friend gave to me several years ago.
This is in an 8" pot and it has many canes. Only the newer canes bloom with wonderful small flowers that are pale pink with rasp centers.
My problem is this:The older canes lose their leaves and do not rebloom although they are still green. What am I supposed to do with the older canes? I once read an orchid book that showed a similar plant with the cane cut up into 1 inch pieces that were used to propagate into new plants.
Any suggestions for this plant? I would appreciate hearing from you. Thanks.

[Zoi2]

Hello and welome to the OB.
As the new leads (canes) mature and grow older they will lose their leaves. Leave them until they totally dry out, they provide water and nutrient storage for the new leads growing.
I have not heard of anyone propagating a cattleya from a cutting.
Joann

[Becky15349]

Hi! It is not uncommon for orchids of many varities to lose the leaves on their older pbulbs; depending on their environment, they may keep them if they are happy, or they may shed them in order to divert energy to new growths. Just a question though - are you sure you have a cattleya? New growths on cattleyas are called psuedobulbs - whereas you called them "canes", which makes me think you may have a dendrobium. Just wondering Cattleyas and dendrobiums are *very* different in their growing requirements, which is why I ask which one you have...and it is more common for dendrobiums to shed leaves on their old canes than for cattleyas to shed leaves from their old psuedobulbs. Maybe attach a picture to your next post and we can help you once we establish which type of orchid you have. ~Becky

EDIT: If you do in fact do have a dendrobium, the leafless canes can be divided and made into new plants. HOWEVER, I do not recommend this. You will get a bigger, stronger, more healthy plant if you leave the old canes intact. They serve as sugar storage for the plant even though they have no leaves. I strongly recommend leaving them alone. I know they are unsightly, but this is somewhat part of growing dendrobiums.

Just FYI, ideally, a "cutting" of a dendrobium should have 3-5 canes so that the plant has enough stored energy to recover. If you have a cattleya, you can also take cuttings of it, provided that the cutting has a minimum of 5 psuedobulbs, again to help the plant recover more quickly. Hope this helps!

[Orchid126]

Ditto what Becky says. If you do have a dendrobium and not a cattleya, those lifeless appearing canes can bloom again! Do not cut them off! Luckily you may get a keiki on one of the canes which will grow roots and you can then plant it up.

If you have a cattleya, the same goes for their bulbs, which serve to support the plant even though they look dead or useless. Also, they count toward the plant having enough bulbs, 4 or 5, in order to bloom.

[Mhead01945]

Thanks for your responses!
I only say it is a cattleya because that is what I was told by the owner who propagated it.

These multiple "canes" are about the length and diameter of soda straws and there are about 20-25 of them in the pot. About half of them are without leaves but still green. These "straws" have little demarcations every inch or so.
These don't look like ovoid pbulbs at all.

It gets a great flower though.

[Singingirl96]

sounds like a dendrobium to me.

[RosieC]

Sounds like a Dendrobium to me as well. I would leave the old canes as they act as energy/moisture storage for the plant. They will dry and shrivel up completely when the plant has finished with them.

[Orchid126]

Question, please. Look at the canes. Do you see any dried bloom stubs up and down the canes, or at the tip of the canes?

Where you see the old bloom stubs will depend on what care the orchid needs as they are two different types of dendrobium.