new growth on Potinara Risky Business "NN"

[Calbears]

This is my first from the Cattleya Alliance. I'm thinking this is the start of a new pseudobulb, but the drops of "dew" have me worried something has been munching on my 'chid. Is this normal or do I have a bug on the loose? What kind of timeframe should I expect for this growth to mature?

Is there anything culturally different about Potinaras compared with other members of this alliance?

[silken]

Those drops look normal and do appear like that on some of mine as well. Some people call this happy sap! Some sucking insects can cause honey dew drops but this does not look like that. In my experience Potinaras take regular Cattleya culture.

[tucker85]

I agree with Silken, the drops are perfectly normal. Most of my orchids have those drops and the lizards on my patio like to lick it off. I also agree with normal cattleya type culture. I've never timed how long a pseudo-bulb takes to grow but I would guess somewhere between 2 and 3 months if the orchid is getting good light.

[CR7cristiano]

Nothing to worry about I'd say. Looks like the sap that orchids produce when they begin to develop their spike or new growths. Or as you said, it could even me morning dew.

[isurus79]

That's definitely new growth sugar droplets coming out of your orchid. Taste them. They're actually REALLY delicious!!!

[Ordphien]

Hah... I've totally tasted them before. They are delicious.

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[CR7cristiano]

I have to admit to tasting it also.

[james mickelso]

Castro Valley. Perfect. Takes all the light it can get short of burning it. Shade it from 10am till 3 pm late spring through early fall. Temps in the high 80's during summer will necessitate watering more often. This new pbulb will mature by mid June or early July. Probably not a bloomer but if you peel the dead sheath material off the older pbulb you will see another pbulb bud waiting to begin life. That one will bloom around Oct/nov. Be careful when taking off the sheath material that you don't scratch the new buds skin. The droplets of sap you see are coming from the stomata which are normally on the undersides of the leaves when they open out but are now located at the tips because the leaf is still folded. Not to worry. But ants love it so be watchful. Aphids and scale do too. The biggest reason for taking off the old dead sheath material is that it is a great place for mealies, hard and soft scale to hide. I was removing some off a large catt this morning, found a couple colonies of soft scale/mealies and took pics for OB. But the pics were out of focus because of the short distance from lens to target. If I find more tomorrow I'll do a better job. Good luck on your prize. Love to see more pics of this plant/media/leaves/base on other side. Potinara is brassovola x cattleya x laelia x saphronitis. Very nice plants.

[Calbears]

Here's a batch of new pics. As you can see the new growth has progressed quite a bit although the newest leaf has yet to open.

[silken]

That new leaf looks like a sheath to me! I see some bumps on it but hard to say. Are there bugs or scale on it?? Hopefully its just the way the picture is showing it and not any bugs.