Mtdm. Curriosities - Looking for answers
 

The plant pictured is a MTDM Ruffles scent of a woman. Had 3 flower spikes, growing 2 new p-bulbs, seems to be happy as it had 3 flower spikes, 2 of which were in bloom for over a month, the 3rd never produced flowers.

http://i.imgur.com/0INm5sQ.jpg

My first question pertains to the leaf on new growth, it has light and dark patches in it, any thoughts?

In the 2nd photo, there is another bulb growing off the top of another bulb and is actually sending out a root as well. I heard this was common in oncidiums, figured someone might like to see what it looks like.

Again in the 2nd photo, a flower spike has bloomed that originated from the top of another bulb (this happened after the other flower spikes had passed)

http://i.imgur.com/6HxaKHK.jpg

The first flower spikes originated from the base of the bulb and grew to about 1' in height. This flower spike is about 4 inches high, has anyone seen this happen before?

I have gotten those small pbulbs on top of regular ones, tho I don't think any have sprouted roots. The past year or so, some plants have gotten quite a few. One did get a small spike, but aborted after buds began to develop, but that particular plant aborts a lot of spikes (all) during summer :p. Low humidity, perhaps.

Certainly not a lack of humidity down here in Houston :P This was its first flowering since repotting to S/H. Ever seen a flower spike originate from top of the bulb?

Oh what I meant was spikes on that particular plant abort possibly due to low humidity. I don't know what causes the small pbulbs on top of the normal ones, but it's not unheard of. I have quite a few, and one did spike once.

I had wildcat, tiger crow, and wilsonara of some sort, that had a small spike with one or two flowers come out of the top of a pb. So it does happen.

By the way, anytime I see uneven green tone that are quite pronouced as mottling or spotting or long lines along the vein, whatever form it is, I think virus.
I know many people on this site are not comfortable with the term like it is something that doesn't exist or happen, but what it is what it is. at least my opinion.
and I'm not saying your plant is virused for sure. just saying it is a high possibility when you see uneven green tone on the leaves. it could also be something else though.

If you have other plants around, it might be a good idea to isolate just in case and watch how the future growths turn out.

Thank you for the heads up Orchidman, I will relegate it to its own rack and see what becomes of it. Suckers going in the firepit if it's a virus!

What does the virus eventually do to the plant?

Different plants display different symptoms as a result of being virused. For orchids, many are symtomless, which is really terrible because it can still spread to other healthy ones via insects or people without the owner suspecting it, like a typhoid Mary.
Orchids that do display virus symptoms vary greatly depending on the genera and type(s) of virus infected with.
It can show up as flower color break, tear&uneven surface texture or other damaged look on flowers, uneven green tone in various shapes and sizes on the leaves, yellow or dark area of various shapes and sizes on the leaves...
Plants go on growing and flowering even with ugly symptoms. The quality drops of course.
Symptomless plants may or may not show symptoms under stress.

Other plants, for example, anuals and perennial garden plants or crops show virus as uneven coloration, yellow stripes along the veins, disfigured leaves. These are the most common symptoms.
Some show dark spots resembling fungal or bacterial diseases.