Rhynchostylis retusa

[Plodde]

I have two Rhynchostylis retusa's is spike.
I can't tell you how excited i am to see this orchid bloom.
I've noticed when I water them less the spikes grow more, which seems little contradictory.
Is anyone familiar with this orchid? any suggestions on getting this orchid to bloom successfully?

If anyone wants pics of the spikes let me know.

[NYCorchidman]

I've noticed when I water them less the spikes grow more, which seems little contradictory.

A little? I think it is just your imagination.
Less water cannot cause anything to grow more or faster. It just is not logical.

[Plodde]

That's what I thought. Maybe it is my imagination.
I read in another post that sometimes stress can cause spikes to grow or new growths to sprout. What are your thoughts on this?

[NYCorchidman]

Some plants, when conditions are not so favorable, may hurry and flower in an attempt to reproduce before dying, but I don't believe this happens often.
Plants in general need specific conditions in order to make flowers, whether it is the amount of rainfall (e.g. many dessert plants quickly flower and dispurse seeds around rainy season and this is very reasonable adaptation to survive).

Stress-induced growth is sort of survival mechanism I think.

[Fairorchids]

Rhy retusa buds develop fairly slowly at first, but then they suddenly elongate fairly quickly. That is a normal development for this species.

[Plodde]

Originally Posted by Fairorchids

Rhy retusa buds develop fairly slowly at first, but then they suddenly elongate fairly quickly. That is a normal development for this species.

thank you for the feed back. my spikes are steadily growing but every morning i wake up to ''happy sap'' covering some of the spikes. i am afraid this will rot them before they get a chance to bloom. So every morning i shower them with water to wash the sap away. No big deal as i have to water them anyways.

[Fairorchids]

Many Vandaceous plants have aa little 'mucus' on developing buds. I don't know the purpose (perhaps protecting young buds from drying out?), but I have never worried about that.

[SilverShaded]

Theyre probably extra-floral nectaries, often used by plants to attract ants and the ants keep other damaging insects, like caterpillars, away.

---------- Post added at 04:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:00 AM ----------

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

I've noticed when I water them less the spikes grow more, which seems little contradictory.

A little? I think it is just your imagination.
Less water cannot cause anything to grow more or faster. It just is not logical.

I'm not so sure, i agree it seems logical that more water means faster growth. However, many of these plants flower before the wet season starts, an early wet season may mean no flowers. Conversely, many also flower when the wet season has finished. A late ending wet season means a later flowering period.

Rhynchostylis seem to like water all year. Having said that, our rhynchostylis gigantea flowered in the winter with a minimum temperature of 10C and kept fairly dry, and this is supposedly a warm growing species. Well it does grow when its warm, but it flowered when it was cool.

Funny things orchids.

[Plodde]

Wanted to give everyone an update on my spikes. they are all starting to produce buds so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they won't blast.

[Picotee]

Congrats on the spikes! This is one of my favorite Rhy's and I'm hoping mine will rebloom this summer. Hope you'll post a picture when the buds open. Good luck!