growing back bulbs

[james mickelso]

For the newbees out there, I have been using an old technique for getting back bulbs to sprout new growth. I'm one who has a very hard time throwing away anything with any potential to grow. Cymbidiums, laelias, brasso's, ect. So I tried old egg cartons, fine bark, spong rock, spagnum moss, dirt, ect. I read an old orchid book and it said to put the back bulbs in a plastic bag (I use sandwich bags and grocery bags) with some damp spagnum moss in the bottom, cut some small holes in the bottom to drain any excess moisture out of it, and hang in a sunny location. My success rate is around 50%. Now I'm not talking about last years bulbs or even bulbs 2 years gone. I mean the really old ones most people just throw away (heathens!!!!). I live on the west coast and it's not very warm. Maybe give it a try.

[Cym Ladye]

James,

If you want a higher percentage of sprouting you might want to try a few tweaks to your plastic bag system:

1) Use heavy duty, Zip Lock, quart freezer bags, no more than 2 BBs to a bag.
2) Stand BB upright, buried 1/3 to 1/2 its length.
3) Use about 1 cup of your regular mix dampened but drained of water. Some people add water to the bag, then thoroughly drain.
4) SEAL the bag. No holes. In this manner, it acts as a mini greenhouse. (reason for heavy duty freezer bags) If you notice the bags trying to "shrink wrap" the bulbs during the sprouting time, open and reseal.
5) Be sure to add a potting label in the bag or at least make a note of the name and date on the outside of the bag.

I stand mine up in three rows of 6/7 bags each in 16" x 16" nursery trays and place in a sky lit attic so there is plenty of light. Some trays end up in my office in a sunny window but not too hot to "steam" the BBs in their sealed bags. If your BBs are started before June, you should have many growths pushing to come out the top of the bags by October. At that time, I open the bag enough to let the growth come out, wait until I have a half dozen or so at this stage, and then pot them up into 3" pots, using the mix that was in the bag and adding more when necessary.

I get 90% or higher success rate doing it this way. The secrets are keeping them warm, keeping in bright light and getting them started early. Even with a late start, you should have most of them ready to pot out by next spring.



Cym Ladye

[tucker85]

I haven't tried either of those methods but they both sound worth a try. My favorite method for cattleyas is to find the place on the rhizome where you want to divide the plant. Take a sharp knive or single edge razor blade and cut through the rhizome. At this point I sometimes wait a couple of weeks but occasionally I go ahead and divide. I gently work the lead psuedobulbs and roots out of the pot trying not to disturb the rear part of the plant too much. Once I have the new bulbs out and ready to repot I leave the back bulbs undisturbed right where they are in the old pot. I add a little medium and wait. The plant almost always sends up new growth.

[james mickelso]

Hi all. Yes I tried to pot the back bulbs in PM but where I live, if I just seal the bags (I use gallon ziplocks) I get fungus and rot which is why I cut holes in the bags. I never have trouble with Cyms but cats and lealias more than three years old never sprouted at all. I have some very old cats and laeliuas in very poor condition (nearly dead) and have some new growth buds just breaking out along the dried up stem. I'm pretty excited. I think for Cyms your method will work like magic. I can't generate enough heat here at the beach. As I said, this is an old method I'm just passing along. I just hate to throw anything away and accept anything most others just throw away. My club let me have a bunch of cats and lealias which were in very poor shape (uncared for by the previous owner due to age) and most would have been thrown away. But I love seeing if I can get anmything out of them. If I canm get growth by next spring, I will put them on the auction table for the club. If anyone has any other methods of resusitating very old back bulbs, please put it here.

[Cym Ladye]

James,

Although I no longer grow the Cattleya alliance, I used to have good luck in making a cut through the rizome, usually at a branching but at your discretion. Leave the two pieces in the pot. Pot up as soon as roots on the new growth are about 1 1/2 to 1" long. I never had to try it on a seriously deteriorated plant in totally broken down mix, but if there is any life left in either, this method should work.

CL

[james mickelso]

Hi Cym Ladye, I used to cut all the way through the rizome but now I use a little variation on the theme with great results. I cu "halfway through" the rizome. I was told that the theory behind it was that the orchid felt injured and tried to heal by sending more energy to the injury and thereby forcing new growth. Sound suspicious to me but it seems to work better since I started doing it. Try it and see if it works.

[RosieC]

I've never tried it, but I've heard the same thing as James. Someone from an Orchid Society I was talking to while admiring his plants at a show said this was the way to do it (and the same theory of why it worked).