BC binosa kirk how to get more growth
 

Hello Orchid enthusiasts. I am new to posting in this forum, although I have been lurking in the background getting information and enjoying discussions for some time.
I have a BC Binosa kirk that I have had for several years and it has been an annual bloomer for me. However, it seems that it only wants to put out one new lead each year, so I only get one spike. I currently have one spike with 4 buds. How can I stimulate this plant to make more leads so I can get more spikes? It is currently in a 6" pot potted in coarse bark media and has 7 stems, 6 old which previously bloomed and the one that is currently in spike. Maybe I should be fertilizing it more (I fertilize at random) and after the spike is done and new lead begins, maybe more nitrogen to stimulate growth? Any advice would be appreciated.

Fertilizer is not likely to be the issue.

Each growth should have at least a couple 'eyes' (lateral growths which may or may not have an actively-growing meristem). You can try stimulating that eye into growth. Try one of the products meant to stimulate growth of keikis (example, Keiki Pro, there are many others, easily found online). A lot of people use these to get keikis to grow on Phalaenopsis, but I have had some success using the same products to stimulate dormant eyes to grow on Cattleya alliance plants.

Note that the hormones in the keiki products are different from the hormones in kelp products, or Dynagro KLN, which can stimulate roots. The kelp products can help you grow more roots, but not stimulate new growths. However, plants with more roots can support more growth. If you already have good roots, you can try the keiki products. If the roots are not good, and you have not repotted for a while, repot again at the right time (active growth), and you can try a root growth stimulant.

Thank you for that valuable information. After the bloom is done and new growth starts, I will try this. I have been growing/attempting to grow various kinds of orchids for several years and this had me baffled. I don't have conditions suitable for regular Cattleyas, but seem to have some luck with BCs, BLCs and LCs, smaller varieties.

If I'm reading this right, you have only
6 or 7 growths total? If that's the case, your plant is still very young and should produce more growths per cycle once it is larger and more mature.

I grew a couple of Binosa varieties and when I gave them away they were both at least triple the size you describe. The bigger they get, the stronger they are, the more growths they put out each year. Pretty much the same with most cattleya.

Thank you for your response. It is not a very young plant, as I have on my tag that I got it from my sister 9 years ago, but obviously I have not been giving it optimum conditions here in Michigan. I grow it inside under lights and then move it outside for the summer. About 3 years ago when I was repotting it I accidentally broke off the back part of it and tried to get that going as a division, but unfortunately it didn't survive. However, I don't think that would have set it back.

More light will likely get this to crank out more growth. A trick I've used successfully is to cut off a new growth that is very early in the growth cycle. The plant will send out 2 or more growths to replace it.

A 6" pot seems a bit big for a slow growing plant in a cold climate. What media is it potted in? Any pics?

Thank you. You are likely correct that more light will give more growth. I have a difficult time achieving high light conditions inside and have been trying to combine light sources to get a better spectrum. I am sure this one could use higher light conditions because it is quite dark green in color.

I've had a Rhyncholaelia Aristocrat for quite some time, 6 years to be precise. Acquired as a near blooming size seedling. For the first 4 years it received marginal care and made only one growth at a time, but since last November it's getting additional artificial light and some attention as well. It developed a second growing point at the lead pseudobulb so it split in a "Y" style. Because I wanted a full pot, I cut a 5 small (baby size) pseuobulbs chunk at the rhizome, put a tag in the cut and watched a latent eye starting to develop. The growing lead has a sheath now in one of the branches and the other branch just started a new eye, so perhaps even a second sheath in a month or two. The in-pot division is producing another growth now, hopefully bigger, as it more or less is like a new seedling, having not had any viable roots in that old area of the plant and the first growth only produced two or three.

Long story short, cut the rhizome in the middle of the plant so you'll get 2 divisions in the same pot. If the timing is good, you'll get more growing points.

Thank you for the good explanation you gave of how you stimulated new leads on your orchid. Mine is blooming now, so I have a little waiting game until I can subject it to something new. I will wait until I see new growth starting, increase light, maybe try some of the other suggestions I received and see what happens. Hopefully by next bloom time I will have a larger more robust plant with more blooms and more good growth!

I want to start this response by stating that I absolutely hate those that claim that “this is the best way” to do anything related to orchid growing. There are just too many variables in the needs of the plants, individuals’ growing conditions, and their willingness/ability to dedicate time and effort to growing them, for a single methodology to be universally appropriate. That said, in the 45+ years I’ve been growing orchids, I have grown (and killed) a large number of different kinds, and have had my growing regimen evolve to the following parameters, and have found it to be excellent. As many others have adopted this and gotten similar results, I believe that if you are able to put these into practice, you too will have a similar experience, (but I will not go so far as to guarantee it).

First, here are the components of that regimen, which aim to mimic-, yet improve upon what the plants see in nature:

• Use a potting medium and container that allows frequent watering without suffocating the roots.
• Use a pure water source – collected rainwater, distilled, or reverse osmosis.
• Water frequently – the more, the better.
• Thoroughly flood the pot at every watering.
• Use K-Lite Fertilizer, (12-1-1-10Ca-3Mg) @ 25 ppm N (about 1/6 teaspoon/gallon) at every watering.
• Add KelpMax Superior Plant Growth Stimulant @ 1:250 (approximately 1 tablespoon/gallon) once per month.
• Add Concentric Ag Garden Solution Plant Probiotic @ 1:100 once per month (approximately 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon/gallon – I just use 3 tablespoons for simplicity).

Now let’s look into why they are so fruitful:

☻The first four items combine to prove a moist, airy environment for the root system that remains clean of mineral buildup and plant wastes, much as the detritus that collects around the roots of epiphytes in tropical forests are thoroughly flushed and aerated by the typically torrential rainfall that is common in those regions.

☻K-Lite’s formula mimics the nutrient mix provided by host plant exudates and accumulated airborne particulates that are flushed down from the forest canopy whenever it rains in tropical rainforests. It is also a complete formula, containing important minor, and trace elements. The low dosing provides plenty of nutrition for these slow-growing plants, while avoiding root damage or the buildup of mineral residues and wastes.

☻KelpMax stimulates the plants into faster growth, but it also provides a wide array of vitamins and amino acids that fertilizers do not. In nature, these are usually provided by indigenous bacteria and fungi which, unfortunately, are typically not compatible with our pot-culture techniques.

☻The Concentric Ag product serves several purposes: the live microorganisms populate the potting media and the plants themselves, stimulating growth, absorbing and converting otherwise unavailable nutrients into usable compounds, and transferring them directly into the plants. They also “beef up” the plants’ natural defensive capabilities as well as predating pathogens directly, resulting in plants that are relatively unstressed by diseases.

I've been using this regimen for about 6 years now, and have never seen my plants grow and multiply so quickly, or bloom so well.

I know there are folks out there who feel that I am promoting this cultural approach because I sell the products, but trust me when I tell you that the converse is true; I sell the products because they work so well together. When I retired from my “real job”, I contemplated retiring from First Rays as well, but found out that if I discontinued retailing these products, they would disappear from the retail channel altogether, and I simply couldn’t let that happen.