Retraining Awkward Growing Pseudobulbs

[butt0n]

I was wondering if anyone ever ran into this, and was wondering how and if you retrain them? I have a cattleya hybrid which has its psudobulbs growing nearly parallel to the rhizome. Does anyone actively try to retrain them to grow upright again or do you just leave them alone?

[kmarch]

Dear button,

At this very moment i have a Laelia crispa doing exactly as you have described. i think 99% of the time there is a reason they do this. I am quite sure mine is doing this because I am growing it on the top shelf in a window where there is as much light coming from below the plant as above it. I have moved it to a low shelf so that the new growth must reach up for the sun. When the new growth is further along I will insert a stake and very gently train the new growth up the stake with ties.

In summary:
1) Try to discern why the growth is doing this. Is is cultural( e.g. the direction light is coming from)? Is it a natural habit of the plant?

2) Try to counteract any cultural cause. if it is pointing to the light, turn the pot around so the light is coming from the direction in which you want the growth to go, or

3) Gently try to train the growth in the desired direction. This part will be much easier if you have the light surce as your friend. Be really careful when doing this though as new shoots can be tender. You may find you can only direct the new growth by a few millimeters each week or 2.

Good luck!

[prisana]

Button, I get them too. All my catts are outside growing in partial shade. I think it's very true what Kmarch said about growing toward the light source, I have a few of them that started out pararell to the rhizomes but most of them make a turn straight up after a few weeks, with exception of the ones in lower lights ( newly potted ) and the ones that are really stubborn , they are still growing side ways I trained a couple of them when the true leave started to emerge.. ( I'm not confident enough to mess with them when they are so little )

I use one of those metal stakes that clips to the side of the pot , clip that on so that it's directly across from the growth you're working with. Use a piece of soft garden twine long enough to go around the growth and back to tie it on the stake. Tie a knot , not to cause any tension to the growth yet, then use the twisting motion to gently tighten it little by little being careful not do it too fast or too tight. Use a strong clip to hold the twisted knot to the stake.. and once a week or so , you can give it a little more twist (carefully) until it's in the position you desire.. it takes a while, but it works for me.

When the growth matures, you should be able to remove the twine and it should resume the upright position. I've never remove it before that , so I can't tell you exactly how long you should keep it on . Hope this helps and hope it's not too confusing.

[janet_a]

gads yes. everybody's growing at about a 45 degree angle to get to the light. all i can do is keep turning the pots so the canes/pbulbs aim for the light. i have some very funky looking plants but well

[butt0n]

I've been pretty much doing the same as you all. I had one catt that needed repotting severely and once I took it out of its old pot, I realized how all over the place it was. I nearly took off all of the roots since they were a mostly dead. I was left with this stump with the pseudobulbs. I was questioning whether or not it would even start growing roots once I repotted it. Months later I am proved wrong and its growing tons of roots! I decided now it was time to retrain it so, slowly but surely, its making progress. All of the new shoots are growing upright and I'm hoping for the best. Thanks all for your input!

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

In a crowded greenhouse the growths pretty much go every which way because of the shading from near by plants, so I train almost all of my Catts. Sometimes it is as simple as shifting the new growth around behind another and the end result is a verticle new growth, most often I use a little twist tie material and pull the new growth up towards another in the pot (use the older bulbs as the anchor point), and sometimes it is a little wire with a paper clip formed end that clips to the pot and becomes the anchor point for the twist tie material. Some times it works to just put a single encircling twist tie loop aroung the leaves to pull everything together.

Now, some times you get a plant with mature bulbs growing in the worst of angles. I wait until the plant has rooted well, then start to pull these bulbs up right, a little at a time. Usually, over a number of months, these bulbs can be made close to verticle.