Green Bumps on Dendrobium?

[chrono]

I have no idea what these green protrusions are. I only noticed them this weekend as they are peeking/bursting through the canes. One of these bumps is 0.5" above the new baby cane that is growing from an existing cane. The second bump is 0.5" above all the other roots in an older cane that still has lots of leaves. I guess I could wait a few weeks to see if these are roots or whatever but anyone care to take a stab at what these bumps are? BTW, these are phal dens.

[pikevi]

HI!

Any chance of posting a picture?

The bumps might possibly be buds. You'll have to wait and see.

[chrono]

Sorry, no digicam. I could use my 35mm but I think by the time I get it developed, the growth would probably be recognizeable by then.

[pikevi]

No problem, chrono.

I was just curious. And I don't know that much about orchids to be able to ascertain what they are even with the photo

[tom499]

You have new growths


They could be roots, keikei, or buds, depending where on the plant they appear. You say there green, do they have a red patch on them?

I find i get red patches as the "bump" develops.

[kmarch]

Do you know what kind of Dendrobium you have (hard cane, soft cane, etc., etc.)? Also, what is your grographical location?

[pikevi]

I hope I am not hijacking this thread.

kmarch: can you pl. give me an example of hard cane and soft cane Den each?

Thanks.

[chrono]

Kmarch,
I think it is a hardcaned phal den. My den lives in the northeastern states (PA).

Tom,
I am so excited about this new growth. I haven't seen any red patches yet. Maybe it's still too early to tell? I am thinking new roots, but is it possible for new roots to be located above a new baby cane? Is it possible for the mother cane to grow 2 baby canes at once? Somehow I don't think they are buds because I think this variety only flowers at the very top of the cane.

ETA
You can see the baby cane in the picture but can't see the 2 new green growths due to my poor photography skills. It's too far away to see them.

[pikevi]

Now I see the photo, I think it is a new shoot. The photo is clear with one litlle protrusion on the left of the picture. I remember mine starting the same way.

I could not locate an earlier photo but I am attaching a photo taken today to show new growth and the location it starts from. These have no IDs

[chrono]

Pikevi,
My photo doesn't show the bumps. I think the protrusion you are seeing is my current new baby cane (I have no idea what is the proper terminology). I only put up the picture for Kmarch to let him/her know that it is a hard cane dendrobium. I have one teeny tiny green bump 0.5" above that baby cane protrusion that you are referring to. Do you think it is a root or another baby cane or something else completely?

[tom499]

It would be weird to see growth on a stem below the newest leaf. If it is quite low down the cane, close to the medium, it would be a root, but for it to be half way up the stem, that confuses me.

I do have small lump up the stems of my bamboo orchid. Just segments, which i believe it cut off can be made to grow, like nodes on a phal stem.

please step in if im chattin pup there

i would expect to see a red colourin on new growth as it reacts with the light.

keep us posted on how it goes.

If your den was a nobile I would expect to see bumps up and down the cane when it was ready to bloom. But from the photograph, I can see at the tip of the cane the old bloom spike, and that indicates that the plant is a dendrobium phaleonopsis type. This type of plant blooms from a spike at the tip. Any bumps up and down the cane would be an indication of keikis. Keiki's are an indication of the plant being unhappy with something in its culture. If you'll tell us what culture you are giving this plant we may be able to ascertain why it's throwing out keikis.

[chrono]

This den sits by a wooden blind shaded SW window. It is watered once a week by sitting in a sink 1/2 full of water. It is fertilized every alternate week with the Miracle Grow (or Shultz, I don't quite remember) Orchid fertilizer and flushed the other week. What other information do you need? I am getting nervous now.

[tom499]

dont worry what we have here is a case of watering through winter.

I myself had this problem, my bamboo orchid, very similiar to dens, like to have a period of alot less watering during winter, to trigger flowering. If watering is continued through this period it stimulates keikei's instead.

at the moment my bamboo is making two keikei's and one bud stem, so both are possible too

[pikevi]

I am sorry chrono. I looked carefully at your picture and mistook your reference to the bump as the new shoot.

I have a few dens. but have not seen any 'bump' yet.

[chrono]

Originally Posted by tom499

dont worry what we have here is a case of watering through winter.

I myself had this problem, my bamboo orchid, very similiar to dens, like to have a period of alot less watering during winter, to trigger flowering. If watering is continued through this period it stimulates keikei's instead.

at the moment my bamboo is making two keikei's and one bud stem, so both are possible too

So I can get both flowers and keiki on the same cane? The new bump (supposed keiki) is on a cane that bloomed over a year ago and had its own baby cane that is now fully grown. I didn't know that older canes can still give off new keiki. Is that right? Or is my den saying something isn't right with the culture?

[chrono]

Okay, these bumps turned out to be keikis, but I did not see any red patches. However, my urgent problem now is that I killed the new baby cane! I think I watered it too much (poured water from the top in an effort to wet the roots) and the baby cane got mushy and broke in half sort of like a phal crown rot. What do I do now? The base is still green but looks like the head got chopped off. Will this chopped off part die off or regrow? How do I salvage this situation?

If it were my plant I'd back off the watering a bit and give it more light. Also, I'd fertilize weekly, weakly. That is, I'd give the plant a teaspoon to a gallon of fertilizer three weeks in a row, and then the fourth week a good flush of plain water from the top. I always water from the top to flush out any minerals that might be building up. You can use plain water first to wet the bark, and then the fertilizer water.

[chrono]

Urgh. The remaining stump of the baby cane turned black and squishy. Will this affect the parent cane too? I hope the parent cane won't start getting mushy too.

At least the 2 other bumps are growing well. I can see the budding leaves now on one of them.

[fred]

have you removed the baby cane that is bad ?

[chrono]

Yes I did. The baby cane rotted very close to the base (although the leaves were still green and firm). A light tug and the top half just separated from the base.