In the annual supplement (November) to the AOS Orchids magazine, there was an article about sprouting backbulbs in water. Like most gardeners, I had started many different types of cuttings in water, but had never thought to try it with orchids. I have had spotty success with growing backbulbs, and it seemed to take more time that it was worth. The pictures below show the results of my experiment with sprouting in water. I chose a healthy three pb section of backbulbs of Pot. Walnita Char 'Waiakea'. I didn't write down exactly when I started, but it was sometime between early November and November 20 (when I traveled to the Mainland). I removed as much of the old dead root mass as I could, and put the plant in water in a glass, completely covering the eye. I put it is a sunny west facing window. After it started to show roots, I occasionally added a little Maxicrop seaweed extract to encourage rooting.
The first picture below was taken December 8, and shows the bud beginning to grow and 2 roots.
The next picture was taken on January 5, and shows the pb elongating nicely and it had 12 roots. The last picture was taken yesterday. I potted up the plant a few weeks ago. It is doing very well and a couple of the roots are even showing next to the edge of the clear pot. It is potted in a mix of large perlite, small Orchiata (#8 I think) and some larger bark.
I have since started another couple of catt alliance plants using this method and they too are doing well. At least from my experience with starting backbulbs, this is a very quick process - from a dormant eye in a backbulb to a healthy plant in a little over 4 months.
Has anyone else used this method? Maybe it is just new to me.
20151208_085446 by
Jo Beth Eubanks, on Flickr
20160105_105842 by
Jo Beth Eubanks, on Flickr
20160316_181423 by
Jo Beth Eubanks, on Flickr
Backbulb propagation in water
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