Honey Dew

[ultimatesr]

Do all orchids produce honey dew...

[Subrosa]

When flowering my Brassavola nodosa sure does! Haven't noticed any of my Haraella or my hybrid Phals even when blooming.

[Daethen]

Most of mine seem to. Lots of times it is on the young new growths and also when they are in bud.

[wuness]

Quite a few of them do. Obviously the nectar inside the flower is used to attract pollinators. In nature the purpose of the nectar outside the flower (i.e., base of flower, flower stalk, etc.) is to attract ants. The ants will aggressively protect this food source and, in the process, will repel beetles, thrips and other critters that could do serious damage to the flower. It's an example of quid pro quo. Although our domestic orchids don't require these extrafloral nectaries for protection any more because of our chemical arsenal, the genes are still there. This is often called "happy juice" by hobbyists but that term is a little too anthropomorphic for me.

wuness

[Optimist]

My new Cattleya is. I was like, what is this? Then I remembered happy juice.

[ultimatesr]

Guys thanks for clearing my doubts.I too heard of the Happy Juice that's why I had such a doubt.My dends don't produce them and I was worried ,whether they were happy or not.

[james mickelso]

Lots of different orchids produce "happy sap". It is attractive to ants and ants don't protect the orchid but the aphids and mealie bugs they bring to it. Also some molds grow on the sugars. It's not something to worry about.

[wuness]

James: I have to disagree with you a bit. Ants don't need to bring aphids and mealie bugs to the orchids in question. The "happy juice" is free for the taking as it bubbles to the surface. Ultimatesr didn't mention anything about aphids because they aren't part of the equation in this situation. I know that's different then what we see in our backyards where ants rely on aphids to access the sugar so that they can be "milked" by the ants. (Peony flower buds are exceptions where ants can access the nectar directly from the bud. This does have a bearing on the point I'm making. Why is the peony secreting all that nectar if not to attract swarms of protective ants?)

I also think your statement "...ants don't protect the orchid..." is incorrect. I think we've all seen videos of ants swarming to protect their homes and resources. Just looking at it logically, most of the "happy juice" is found on the flower stalk and much of that is bubbling from the base of the flower, exactly where you would want ants to be stationed if you were an orchid.

This is clearly Mother Nature at work paying mercenaries, with sugar, to protect what is most dear to the survival of the species. The orchid flower.

[james mickelso]

Osmotic pressure within the orchid produces the sap. The orchid does not produce it to summon ants to it for protection. Many different plants produce it for no reason at all. Many times it is a consequence of an insect bite or simply damage to the cellular tissue of the plant where that becomes an outlet for the plants sap. Ants are scavengers and take advantage of this free sugar laden moisture as do many other insects. The plant does not produce this material to attract protectors. Ants don't guard their source of nectar and gather nectar and pollen from many different plant flowers. They do however protect their herd of aphids and mealie bugs from other carnivorous insects. Humming birds and other small birds take advantage of nectar and pollen as food and the flowers have evolved this mechanism to attract pollenators. There are numerous orchids that rely on birds for pollination. The ants are freeloaders. In nature ants are the most common purveyor of aphids and mealie bugs. The ants farm them and protect them. Ants wouldn't know an orchid from a cow. they do know where free dinner is and bring there herd to dine on whichever plant the insects are capable of piercing the tissues and extracting sap. Ants are the worlds freeloaders. The question was "do orchids produce honeydew". And the answer is yes. And like all good teachers the answer is expounded upon.

[ultimatesr]

James you mean all orchids produce honey dew .Since my orchids don't, that means something wrong in my caring