Do you Divide your orchids?

[snowflake311]

I have 2 plants that are getting really big SO many growths on them. I want to divide them but I also like how big they are. They give me more spikes when they are bigger. But when you keep a monster plant you have less room for others. SO...

The one Time I did Divide my plant it was a Sherry baby and A big one. The plant looked find grew fine but after I split it up it grew poorly and ugly. This has made me think spliting up plants is not worth it.

I have an Onc. Twinkle that is growing like a weed and getting big fast. I also have another Onc that is a big one and the plant is getting huge.


To divide or not to that is the question.

[estación seca]

Just do it at the appropriate time - making new growth in spring.

[jkofferdahl]

A lot goes into the decision. My space is extremely limited but I like puttin' on the Ritz with my orchids and so prefer a specimen plant. Others prefer numbers, or to have one to keep and one to give away, both also great options. Saying this I have to admit that MOST of my orchids are monopodial, but the few I grow which are sympodial are plants I pot up rather than divide; eventually, of course, they'll reach a point where division is necessary.

The real important issue, though, is to divide a plant at the right time. You want the plant to be entering a growth cycle so that it can quickly establish itself in the new pot. You can throw it off by repotting at the wrong time, and that leads to the plant needing a longer recovery period before it blooms again.

[MrHappyRotter]

Dividing the plants is pretty much essential for me after awhile. For one thing, I don't have the room to grow out massive specimen plants. I grow indoors on shelves under lights.

Another issue is that once plants get to a certain size, they actually become more difficult to repot and to evenly water, and other aspects of care become more difficult (like hunting for pests & disease). So, I find that they often go into decline once they reach a certain threshold. By dividing the plants into smaller and more manageable pieces, over time I get more blooming and healthier plants -- plus it gives me an opportunity to share my plants with other people.

[Salixx]

I haven't run into this issue, yet, but it's certainly on my mind.

For me, I think it would greatly depend on how much I liked the plant and if I was willing to give up other plants as a sacrifice for it to grow better.

Fortunately, most of the ones I really love are small and thus could be specimens without taking up a whole lot of room.

[Orchid Whisperer]

i have a lot of sympodials. Once they get too big, division is my only option, due to space limitations.

[Paphluvr]

I prefer to grow my plants into specimens. However, sometimes the plant falls apart during repotting (thus dividing itself) or it's growing in such a way that taking a piece off makes the plant look better. I see no point in dividing a plant just to have more plants other than having a backup in case some thing should happen to one.

[Optimist]

I am a specimen plant person too. My thought, besides that big plants are awesome in my opinion, is that if I do ever have to sell one of the big ones, it will bring a much higher price than a lot of tiny ones. Maybe it is the economist side of me. If you look on eBay for "specimine sized" orchids, you find they are sometimes in the 100's of dollars, when you can get a seedling for 30.00 dollars. I also have this fantasy of entering a plant in an orchid show that makes people trip over themselves to take a look. It might never happen, but I like to think it could. If you have a chance to look up "My Green Pets" on Amazon try to find an episode showing his gigantic Bulbophyllum Medusea. A medusea even 1/10th of that size is like 50 dollars!

---------- Post added at 08:25 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:24 AM ----------

Adding that I am not putting "miniature orchids into this class. There are huge "specimen sized" miniatures that can fit in your hand, they would still be considered specimen sized.

[RJSquirrel]

I dont usually split up plants ,but if I re-pot and it separates naturally at a break, I will give it a new home.

[Subrosa]

My limiting factor in practically all things orchid is my indoor winter space. With the exception of hangers in baskets and my Cymbidium LBS my set up is built around 6" pots. When a plant outgrows a 6" pot I divide it.