Waking up dormant nodes on Laelias with Keiki Pro

[pi11sbury]

My Laeliocattleya Orange Embers 'Santa Barbara' finished blooming in March and proceeded to begin new growths, one on each of the four previously blooming pseudobulbs. I could see a number of dormant eyes on older bulbs so I decided to look into ways of "waking" these dormant nodes up, so that next year I could have more than 4 blooming pseudobulbs. The only thing I could find was Keiki Pro. I decided to try it, and assumed it wouldn't work.

Initially I diluted it in water (5 drops per tablespoon H2O) and sprayed the node regions on three older pseudobulbs. Nothing happened for a week, so I put one drop of undiluted solution directly onto each of three dormant eyes. A few weeks later I found that two of the three eyes had started bulging and look like they will begin growing into new pseduobulbs. The third one doesn't look like it has changed at all. Attached are pictures of the two nodes before and a few weeks after application. Also for comparison, I have attached an image of the original lead growths at the latter time-point (these are much farther along than the nodes that are waking up) and towards the center of this picture you can see the dormant node which didn't respond to Keiki Pro treatment.

It seems logical that this waking up was due to Keiki Pro treatment, but since only two of the nodes woke up, there may be requirements that need to be satisfied in order for Keiki Pro to work.

I tried the same treatments on my Laeliocattleya Amethystella var. Coerulea (new lead growth already began before application to dormant nodes) and Laelia Bonnie Bonita (lead growth not apparent before application to formant nodes). One node on the Amethystella MAY be waking up, but I cannot tell for sure. Bonnie Bonita exploded with new root growth, but that may also be due it being Spring.

I'll post followup images. Does anyone else have experiences with Keiki Pro or other treatments used for waking up dormant nodes on pseudobulb orchids?

[pi11sbury]

The outermost pot is filled with LECA. It is not being grown s/h.

[pi11sbury]

Here are the images

Node #1 Before

Node #1 After


Node #2 Before

Node #2 After (angle of photo is different, and the blue stake was removed from the pot)


This is a picture of the original lead growths taken on the same day as the "After" images were taken of the dormant nodes. The dormant node in the middle is the one that did not respond to Keiki Pro.

[flutepic15]

I can't see your pics. Is anyone else having this problem? I'm bummed, because this sounds so interesting, I wanted to see the pics!

[flutepic15]

Nevermind, there they are! Wow, I have no experience with this, but I am so interested to see what others have to say! It's definitely doing something cool!

[tangers40]

that is very intriguing. i'd love to hear what others have to say as well. i've always wondered how to get the dormant eyes/nodes on some of my catt hybrids to wake up and do something. i have one hybrid that hasn't grown one iota since i got it last august. it has several nice-looking nodes, but none of them are doing anything. hmmmm......

[mehitabel]

Congrats on an inspired discovery! A poster on another board mentioned keiki growth to activate dormant buds on backbulbs. He used it on those old, hopeless, sunkin-in growth nodes on shriveled-up backbulbs with a lot of success. I never tried it, tho.

In my catt days I used to paint the growth nodes with clonex gel and was able to activate extra growths that way.

[tansyflower]

I have been tempted to use something like this, but always worry that it may harm the plant. I think I have some clonex gel.

[davetheorchidaddict]

I like the idea and may have to try it myself - soon.

[Stelios]

excuse my ignorance, but if all 4 of the previous pseudobulbs had 4 new growths growing... won't an additional few chemically "awaken" pseudobulbs take a lot of effort from the plant? I mean won't that affect blooming?

[tansyflower]

I was thinking this as well, but was more worried about overstressing the plant. However maybe the new roots that are produced along with the new psuedobulbs will help support the plant (??).

[pi11sbury]

Stelios- I am not sure but I am hoping there won't be a problem for two reasons:

1) The nodes are on older pseudobulbs, each of which has at least one older pseduobulb behind it.
2) This plant grows vigorously and has an excellent root system.

The reason I started this thread is because I found it challenging to find much on the topic, so I am hoping that others can lend some insight from their experiences.

[exasperatus2002]

It's not unheard of to use it in this manner. Heres some info you might like.

KeikiPro