Laturia Blooming Question

[jdw]

I may grow out a Den atroviolaceum and one of it's high breds to become specimen plants. As I was uppotting, I wanted to remove some of the older leafless, but green canes. Some of these are not needed as resevior canes due to the size of the plant.

My Question is do the old canes bloom again? I don't think so, but some Dens in other groups do.

Your information would be appreciated.

John

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Doesn't look like they bloom from old pseudobulbs.

[jdw]

That's my guess. I wanted to be sure before I removed some of the old canes just for asthetics.

Thanks

[Orchid Whisperer]

Those old back-bulbs may be able to produce new plants, if you have the desire to propagate it and share with friends.

[WhiteRabbit]

Yes, they do bloom on previously bloomed canes.

[catwalker808]

I was just browsing & came across this thread.

From firsthand observation of many different kinds of latouria den species & hybrids, I agree with WhiteRabbit that latouria dens can bloom on previously bloomed canes.

However, I think that this re-blooming habit depends on several factors. I also don't think that all latouria dens exhibit this ability. Certain species (& probably their hybrids), are more inclined to bloom again on previously bloomed canes. For example, if my memory is correct, I have observed re-blooming on: Den aberrans, Den rhodostictum, Den. spectabile, Den. atroviolaceum & many of the respective hybrids. There have probably been others, but I am most certain about these.

These all bloom & re-bloom at the tops of mature canes. There is, of course, a limit to the total number of potential bloom spikes (initial blooms & re-blooms).

For illustration, imagine a nobile cane. On this type of cane you can clearly see the sections/nodes of the canes. Flowers can only occur at the top of each node. If some of the nodes do not produce flowers (perhaps, because the plant was not chilled enough), if the cane is in suitable condition, the un-bloomed nodes may produce flowers in the following season.

On the latouria dens, because the location for potential blooms is at the terminal of the cane, it isn't as easy to see nodes or nubs where the spikes would initiate. I have seen leaved or leafless, but sound, previously bloomed canes produce 1 or 2 re-blooms the following season. Of course, if the cane is depleted by the first bloom, the re-blooming doesn't occur. Realistically, at most, each cane may re-bloom only once.

If you want to groom your latouria den to be a nice specimen, the rule-of-thumb should be to only keep old canes if they are sound enough to contribute to the well-being of the rest of the plant. If they are dried out sticks, the won't bloom anyway.