Confused about pseudo bulbs.

[Cym Ladye]

Nowhere in this post has anyone said what genus was involved or whether there were leaves on the peudobulbs. Whenever I repot or divide a Cym, I always leave one leafless BB without roots on each division if possible. Any extra firm BBs are potted up if they are from a good plant in hopes of sending out a new growth which eventually will develop into a plant identical to the original plant.

If a Cym has bloomed off a green bulb and there are leaves still on it, there are some grexes which will rebloom on the same bulb. Hybridizers are working on this aspect of Cyms. so saying it will never happen as was once the case, is no longer totally true. Still not the norm, but it can happen with more and more frequency.

[pinett]

could i ask something related? recently i repotted an oncidium jungle monarch immediately after buying and founded that two little pseudobulbs had been previously submerged, so i cut them off.

the question is: if i cut a pseudobulb, what will happen to its relative roots? i really can't distinguish and separate them from the others departing from healthy pseudobulbs.
it makes sense to you to concern about that or honestly is completely non sense? i'm very curious about it

[Ray]

Pseudobulbs are connected via a rhizome. It can be very short, or quite long. Each one is actually a single plant that will have its own bulb, leaves, and root system. As long as they are connected, they will share water, nutrient, and energy resources. Once separated, if the individual is mostly intact, one or more of the "eyes" (meristematic tissue at the base) might start to grow into a new rhizome and growth.

[pinett]

hi, Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Yours is a really interesting explanation, now all the previous posts are very clear to me and I obviously preserve all the pb as a they posses so great resources and potentials!
bye!

[Fairorchids]

Let me clarify a couple of points, which are alluded to, but not stated clearly:

If you divide a plant:
Cattleyas should be at least 4 mature pseudobulb divisions.
Oncid/Odont hybrids should be at least 3 mature bulbs
Paphiopedilums should be min 1.1/2 fans, provided that they have good roots. Some complex Paphs do not grow roots on new growths till the fan is 2-3 years old; those can only be divided into min 3 fan divisions.

However, do not be in a hurry to divide, A 3 bulb division will bloom, but it will be a small inflorescence. A plant with 6 or 9 bulbs will bloom to it's full potential - often with 2 or even 3 spikes per bulb.