Question #2- odd new growth
 

So, here we have a Renantanda, this one being Van. denisoniana x Ren. storiei. I've had it 2 years now I think and it has yet to bloom for me. I just noticed this weirdness in the crown. Anyone seen something like this and can explain what's going on?

It may very well be a new growth... not really a keiki. Since monopodial orchids put all their eggs in one basket - a single growth point - they don't necessarily just keep gettting bigger at the crown, but may branch with new growths.

OK. Interesting. I guess I would have expected it to keiki from the main stem like other vandaceous plants. Especially where it's half vanda.

This will be interesting to follow and see what happens.

id say new growth...they branch off more than make a keiki..

i see this a lot on the arachnis types

Update-
Well Roberta and DC, looks like you guys nailed it. I'd never seen a vanda type do that. Interesting.
Flowers are "meh"! Color breaks may be thrips seeing as with the COVID I didn't want to fly down here to do my mid-summer check-in which would have included spraying.
If it ever stops raining and blowing here I need to get that done.



ps--- do you notice how much that thing has grown in 6 months?

Wow! It’s like it doubled!?

And, yea, this rain and wind SUCKS

At first, I thought this might have been similar to the pineapple feature recently seen in my Dendrobium discolor ------ thread link.

I saw that SP. If it had roots I'd suspect it was a keiki but with no roots......IDK. Interesting.

DC---right....just about doubled in size in 6 months after 2 years of doing nothing.

What looks like color break may just be what the cross does... The petals and dorsal sepal of the Renanthera have spots (as many Renantheras do) and so instead of getting spots you got blotches. Any hybrid - especially a new one - is an unknown. Some will be more attractive than others, even within the group of offspring.

I have had similar “stall” periods and then growth but nothing quite this dramatic

I often wonder if the plant gets acclimated and then moved (when we acquire it) if it sulks or just waits a growth period or two, before it kicks back into growing