Dilemma....to water or not to water?

[buhuo8888]

I have another dilemma that needs your opinion. This I think is a Cymbidium Orchid. December right now, I have reduced watering and intend to stress it to bloom in spring. BUT, a new shoot has grown and it is looking pretty healthy...so should I water the plant to support the new growth, or continue to stress it but may damage the new shoot...please help!

[Roberta]

It is a Cymbidium. It needs water - they should never dry out. The trigger for blooming is the chill of cool nights with warm days in the fall. OUtdoors in southern California is the perfect location for Cyms - the natural weather pattern will give it exactly what it needs to bloom. Just keep it healthy and it will bloom when it is ready. (The pot is a lttle large for the plant, but don't repot now)

[buhuo8888]

You are the BEST! I will give it a drink TODAY!

[Kittyfrex]

Out of curiosity, why do people think it's stress that does good things to plants?
I have been in your shoes a few months ago when orchid jesus Roberta swooped in.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by Kittyfrex

Out of curiosity, why do people think it's stress that does good things to plants?
I have been in your shoes a few months ago when orchid jesus Roberta swooped in.

Well, a moderate stressor can be a trigger for bloooming. After all, why does an orchid bloom? Not particularly to please us (though that might be a factor in 'unnatural selection"), it is to reproduce itself. So a bit of fear might initiate that process. But I think that more accurately, it is change. A drop in temperature, a change in light, or some other indication that something is happening that might be inspring a pollinator. So after a period of less rain (usually not zero), there is "anticipation" of a rainy season to follow that might be when the pollinators hatch. Clearly this is dfferent for different habitats. But that's the concept.

For most Cymbidiums, it's the seasonal change. When the nights are cool and the days bright and warmer, that says "autumn" for many areas (and that happens to occur naturally in southern California which is why it's such a perfect place to grow Cyms, I suspect the same is true where Kittyfrex lives, a function of a Mediterranean climate except that we have to add water in summer especially, the temperature is perfect but the rainfall pattern isn't) Now, like all over-broad statements, there are going to be esceptions - some Cym species come from more tropical areas where there is less seasonal variation (like Cym ensifolium, and the hard-leafed tropical species) and that's where we get the ancestry for the "warmth-tolerant" Cym hybrids that bloom without the fall cool-down.

[Kittyfrex]

Yes to that, but i mean, why call it stress to begin with? It's not just orchids, all sort of plants get the stress treatmant, and i wondered why would anyone think of it as stress? Cuz as you said, it is the change that pulls all sorts of triggers (flower, dormancy, fruiting ect), not actual stress.
There absolutley is such thing as stress blooming and i've had it in african violets, roses, tulips and some other plants, but it's a whole beast another. No pretty flowers or nice leaves, stress ends up leaving an ill looking plant/animal/human.

[Dimples]

In scientific terms, stress can be defined as:
A condition in which a system (aka, your plant) experiences a disruption of its equilibrium due to external or internal factors, requiring an adaptive response to maintain or restore stability.

That’s why it’s called stress, because it is. Any sudden and significant change to a plant’s growing environment is a stressor, and causes stress to the organism.

[Keysguy]

Is that potted in dirt?

[Kittyfrex]

Originally Posted by Dimples

In scientific terms, stress can be defined as:
A condition in which a system (aka, your plant) experiences a disruption of its equilibrium due to external or internal factors, requiring an adaptive response to maintain or restore stability.

That’s why it’s called stress, because it is. Any sudden and significant change to a plant’s growing environment is a stressor, and causes stress to the organism.

That's a slippery slope. How do you define what part of the year represents the organism's equilibrium? Keep in mind that some are far better adapted to conditions we usually associate with stress than they are to anything else. Not to mention that most, if not all, plants are adapted to a cycle of some sorts, with most of the stressing being quite reliable or predictable.

Not trying to argue or anything, just curious.