Cutting Cattleya rhizome?

[gdupont]

Hi all.

I remember a video by Andy's orchids where he mentioned that he stimulates growth on his established cattleya and laelias by just cutting the rhizome, leaving the plant in-tact and, in his case, still established on the mount.

I'm looking to do this in a potted Cattleya percivaliana. Just one question. How many rooted bulbs should the sections have? For example, if there would be two rooted pseudobulbs on either side of the division, would that be enough? Or should there be at least three on each side?

Thanks!

[Lil Duck]

I have heard most often at least 3, but the more pbs per division the better.

[Louis_W]

Ya id keep it to three at least. Also try Kelpack or another seaweed extract. That definitly encourages multiple leads on my plants

[smweaver]

Three pseudobulbs is a good number--but more if you have them is possibly even better. I have a very stubborn Cattleya labiata that only makes one new growth a year. Last fall, in frustration, I cut the rhizome and the plant promptly produced a new growth on the back division of three pseudobulbs--and both are still in the same pot because I'm too lazy to separate them. If you do cut the rhizome, be patient, as the plant may take a little while before the back portion "wakes up" and produces a new growth.

[estación seca]

If you ever intend to show the plant you should not do this. There can be only one plant per pot for AOS judging. Cutting the rhizome once would make two plants.

[DirtyCoconuts]

what about a partial cut? i have done this on lots of non-orchids to stress them into growth, do orchids respond the same?

[tmoney]

you can watch our latest video about this exact thing! we cut our first cattleya in half cause i didn't't know any better. almost 3 years later they finally bloomed again but my new knowledge about this group is to NOT cut the rhizome. well, or course if you have a giant plant that you can have many pbulbs in each new group....i guess it is fine and people do it all the time. we had 3 bulbs in each division but it wasn't enough i think

[Maryanne]

I have done the cut-halfway-through operation on a mounted plant.
You can cut from the top is the plant is mounted or already in a pot. If you are repotting, you can cut halfway through from the bottom surface of the rhizome if you wish.

In my case it worked well...Good luck!
Maryanne