Free new Oncidium growth from leaf?
 

I picked up this lovely hybrid at Trader Joe's in early September. The last few buds are just barely opening now but it has already put forth a new growth off the primary pseudobulb. I'm assuming that it is a new bulb.

Should I cut the leaf now or wait for the new growth to cleave it on its own? It seems a bit fussy, but I don't want to deform any new growth if I can avoid it.

Leave it alone.

Plants in the wild don't have anyone to "cut the leaf" for them, so they must not need us to do it in our collections. I've never heard this before. From where did this advice come?

I can't see anything that should be cut.

More than one you-tuber makes this recommendation. The advice being to cut old dried up leaves that are too hard for new roots to push through. This allows for new roots to push straight into the substrate without interference. I have seen one or two videos where they recommend to cut green leaves below the new growth for the same purpose, but personally i disagree. If the leaf is still green and tender the new roots should have no problem piercing through. I would only cut a leaf that was interfering with new roots, pushing them upwards instead of allowing them to seek moisture below.

I wouldn't even worry about the roots sometimes pointing upwards... that's not unnatural. Some (like Dendrobiums, Cymbidiums, Ansellia) send a bunch of roots upwards anyway (especially as the pot gets crowded), it is a way to trap leaves and other detritus. Let the plant do what it wants to do. Definitely don't rush to cut!

It was just a random thought that occurred to me. My first instinct is generally to leave things alone, but figured I might as well ask just in case.

As for wild plants, they don't undergo many of the treatments that home grower apply, whether for aesthetic reasons or to increase survival. I rather like some of the interested and differentiated forms of wild plants, but they can also end up deformed and many certainly die due to poor circumstances that an external actor could have remedied.

Thanks for the advice, everyone!

People don’t seem to understand that there is no “motion” as a root grows. They seem to think that they grow similarly to the way toothpaste is squeezed out of a tube, while in fact, cells are added at the tip. When there is an obstacle, the cells are just added in a different direction to get around it.