Beallara Peggy Ruth Carpenter

[silken]

Originally Posted by NatalieS

I guess if you got it from an actual orchid vendor it was at least not 'forced' like the mass-produced ones. And based on what I've seen mine do, that makes sense what you said about dividing it. When it was in the height of its sulk and I was repotting it a lot, I noticed it had pretty poor roots and yet loads of back bulbs. And although the back bulbs were shriveled and miserable looking, they were still green and never dried up or shriveled entirely. Then, when the roots on the new growth took off, all the back bulbs plumped up. I mean, you can see that they've been shriveled before because their surface isn't nice and smooth anymore, but they're really plump and still being actively used by the plant. So, I guess what it lacks in roots it makes up for in storage, and having some of that storage removed upset it.

Maybe the next time it starts to spike, cut the spike and see if it will produce another growth instead. Maybe once it has a good number of bulbs it will start spiking nicely again? Just an idea, I suppose.

Thanks for the tips. It does have a few leafless back bulbs now. It just doesn't seem too eager to grow many new more substantial leafy ones. I should inspect it carefully and see what s going on. Or.... Maybe I need to ignore it again