Where do oncidiums spike from???

[Gillian Higgitt]

Greetings to you all,
I have a very tough oncidium "Sugar Baby" that has so far survived my ignorance, it has been both nurtured and neglected, but will not flower. I got really excited when I noticed new shoots growing from the base of 3 pseudobulbs but now they are starting to look like baby pseudobulbs. I feel realy silly asking this question, but where can I expect to see a spike grow from? How can I get it to flower ? Gillian

[philoserenus]

nah, there are no questions which are too stupid. plants are weird little (ok... maybe they arent all so little) organism.

if u look at the old pseudobulbs, u'll see the body (the round area) and lateral leafs (the two or four leafs that flank the round part). the spike will grow from the area between where the leafs join the pseudobulb; one spike on each side

[Ross]

Flower spikes will come from between the lowest outer leaf and the pseudobulb. Growths at the base of pseudobulbs are new vegetative growths.

[Gillian Higgitt]

Thanks for the info. Why is my Sugar Baby growing new pseudobulbs and not spiking? Can I hope to see it flower from these new pseudobulbs, or do they flower from last year's?

Gill

[philoserenus]

the idea is that they spike from 'mature' growths. so if ur older ones havent spiked before, u could expect them to spike along with the new one. seeing that u're in the northern hemisphere like me, u're gonna expect growth until the fall. thatz probably when they'll start to spike.

once again itz the temp difference and the tlc that will make them bloom ^^