New growth on Catasetinae
 

New growths on Catasetinae.

I have a couple of plants, like a Cyc. barthiorum x Morm colossus, that have new growths high up on the old bulb. Should I re-pot with the new bulb deeper in the mix or should i remove the new plant when it achieves a certain size? I attempted the latter last year, but the new growth did not last.

TIA,

Bill

Leave the growth where it is and just let it grow as normal. Its a new growth and not a new keiki so will not be viable on its own. I hate it when they grow in wierd places but begin watering the plant as normal when the roots are long enough and dont repot it deeper or you will rot the whole plant! The roots will eventually make their way down to the media.

Those roots are going to have to get pretty long. ;-p

Hi Bill -
I've had this happen too, especially on Cycnoches. Sometimes the old pseudobulb has dried out at the bottom, sometimes not. And I've had little luck removing these growths from the old cane as well. The best results for me have been to take the old pseudobulb and put it on a flat mount of some kind and let the whole thing grow on that.
At least with these growths, you can see when the roots are well-developed.
These can be a real thorn-in-the-paw!
Cheers - Nancy

Nancy, take the whole plant and mount it before seeing any new growth? The reason I ask is, I've got one that hasn't put out new growth yet and yesterday, it rained and soaked one of my catasetums that's been dry all winter...I don't want to discard it...don't know what to expect?

High Growths
 

The two growths are 180 degrees from each other, so a flat mount might be difficult unless I choose to sacrifice one. At this point, I'm just going to leave both alone a just mist them. Once they both get large enough, I'm going to repot the old bulb so that the new roots are just into the new medium and then cross my fingers.

Thanks again for all the advice,

Bill

We were talking about a pseudobulb that has a growth towards the top (with roots).

Hi Bill - you might want to treat the very bottom with sulfur or some other fungicide (like rooting powder) so it won't try to go rotten on you.
Every time I think I have these plants figured out and have a real handle on their culture, they do something unexpected. Very endearing, in a tortuous kind of way.

Fungicide
 

I'll try that when I repot.

I just want to caution you with this approach. If the roots grow down to the media on their own (which they will) and then you put those aerial roots into a media they will die. Ive done it before! Your plant will be just fine if you leave it alone or you could try Nancy's method (she has a lot of experience with these guys too!) with one growth and leave one on the larger plant. That way you can have 2 plants and if one fails, then you still have one left. Also, you could just rip one or both of your wierd growths off. New ones will pop up within a few weeks to replace them and there is a good chance they will be in the 'normal' place. Believe it or not, I think this would be the least disruptive remedy as you do not modify the larger plant as a whole in any way. I know its harsh but its a technique Ive used (on purpose and by accident!!) to actually promote more growths than the plant was orginally putting out. Keep us informed with what you do! Im always curious to see what other growers are doing.