Getting Laelia to branch out?
 

Hi all, I have a Laelia purpurata var. carnea that is growing in one direction, pretty much just straight with one pseudo bulb after another. I've seen these plants grow really big and "branch" out in different directions, such as in this picture Laelia purpurata 'Purp One' Plant | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

My question is, if I want my plant to grow into something like that is there anything I have to do to get it to start growing in different directions? I read somewhere that putting keiki paste on a dormant eye might get it to start growing, does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks!

Does yours flower?

I ask because if you find it hard to get to flower you may not have one or several things going wrong.

1)Not enough light
2)Rotten roots
3)Low amounts fertilizer or not frequently enough

They tend to grow from the top eye first....then the second and third eyes.

You could score a partial cut on the rhizome between some of the older bulbs. This often stimulates the old pseudobulbs to start new growths and then you would have multiple growths from various points on the plant.

I have a purpurata and it put out multiple leads like crazy last summer. Starting in spring, I fertilized with a cheap fertilizer mixed with Epsom salts, a little powdered milk, and a little Ironite (doesn't dissolve well) added to my distilled water. All my cattleyas and many others went crazy with new growth. Now I have switched to watering with an MSU fertilizer which is more sparingly added as the house is cooler so growth slows. Ironite, powdered milk and Epsom salts won't burn plants as other inorganic fertilizers do but a person must still be careful with the Epsom salts and Ironite. Hope this helps.

Thanks guys,

Keith, I've only had it a couple of months and by looking at it it seems like it's never flowered before but it might still be a relatively young plant, it only has 6 pbulbs.

Silken and Leafmite, thanks for the advice, I'll definitely look into both of those things.

:)

I tried this a few times when I had lots of old nearly dead orchids to experiment with (mmwhahahahahaaaaa). I used a razor blade and cut two thirds of the way through the rizome behind every second pbulb. Counting back from the lead, after every second pbulb. Did not repot. Then I fed it a high nitrogen fertilizer with very little potassium or phosphorus. That helps force the plant into making vegetative growth as opposed to flowers. The older pbulbs started pushing the dormant eyes. I also gave it lots of light. Make sure you peel off as much of the papery sheaths from all the pbulbs. More green tissue, more photosynthesis. It worked fairly well. I'm sure there are other vaild methods. That's just what I tried.

Thanks James, now did you cut all the way through the rhizome or just a little?

If you only had it for a few months.. Than I wouldn't worry much. It may take off now its under your care.

I got a laelia for Andy not to far back that was doing the same thing and now I had two old eyes starting to grow.

I've tried using Keiki paste on the eyes of cattleyas to try to produce more leads but it's never worked for me. I'm not a big fan of cutting the rhizome either. Big laelias and cattleyas have a lot of stored energy in their backbulbs. The bigger they get, the better they flower and grow. Personally I think that the growth habit is often in the DNA of the individual plant. Some orchids like to branch and others resist it. I've had two or three plants of the same cross and one will grow new leads and other just grows straight. In my humble opinion the best chance of getting new leads is to give the plant as much light as it will tolerate without burning and water and fertilize properly. Good luck.

Thank you Tucker and Keith, I'll just do my best to give it what it needs without getting too impatient.

I was just curious if there was something special people did to get their catts to branch out rather than just grow in a straight line.

Thanks again!