Dendrochilum bicallosum growth - what is it?

[Vivienne]

I've had this Dendrochilum bicallosum since last July. It has yet to bloom for me but has easily doubled in size (and pbulb count). This morning I noticed this growth on the base of the newest pbulb (leave is not yet open). What is it?

[kmarch]

Many Dendrochilums, and someone can correct me if I'm wrong about this particular species, bloom from new growths before the growth is fully formed so you'll see a new growth, the leaf will begin to uncurl, it'll be a kind of tube still and the inflorescence will come up out of that rolled up leaf.

With your plant, it looks as if, for some reason, the inflorescence got stuck and couldn't come out yet continued to grow and got all curled and twisted up inside the new growth.

I'm not sure exactly what might cause this. I had a Dendrochilum cobbianum whos leaves would stick to themselves as the new growths came. They would excrete a bit of sappy substance and it would get sticky and sometimes prevent the leaves form unfurling. This could also cause an inflorescence from emerging.

What's your humidity levels like?

[Vivienne]

Hi Kevin - that's what my thoughts were regarding the growth. This plant is in an area that has humidity in the 48-58% area. Do you think it will work itself out?

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by Vivienne

...humidity in the 48-58% area. Do you think it will work itself out?

Hmmm... I would think that humidity should be ok, but I've only grown a couple of these so I'm not a Dendrochilum expert.

I'm not confident that this will straighten out especially since it looks like it has started to become discoloured, maybe it's just the photo though.

Have you experienced any of the leaf sticking?

[Vivienne]

Leaf sticking - not really. At times there is a little crease at the very bottom of the leaf but I just thought that was normal. It really isn't discolored - in my eyes - in a bad way. Maybe I'll see if I can pry it out gently tomorrow.

Thanks Kevin!