propagation with repotting back bulbs

[Celcat]

Hi everyone,

Lately I have been busy with repotting. I have quite few old odontoglossum and oncidiums. So I have repotted the back bulbs of these hoping that they will give a new growth. I did the same for an encyclia. I read that while it was easy to get a new growth from an encyclia it wasnt the same for the odontoglossum. The probability that I will get a new growth from a back bulb from the odont. is very small Is it also true for the oncidium family?
I would appreciate if you can bring your output here and your experience

[digitalgate]

it is a numbers game. I cut huge clump of oncidium into groups of three pseudo bulb into twenty piece, i only get 10 grew new keiki. My sherry baby was ok, Grower Ramsey was ok. several ear mule oncidium was not so great. Hopefully yours is better.

[Celcat]

Thank you. Well, I will have to wait and see. Hopefully, I will be lucky

[Hummer344]

For me, trying to get new growth out of back bulbs is an exercise in futility. I have never had good luck and the few that did throw a sprout took FOREVER to get to blooming stage. Guess I am just not patient enough.

[norris]

Some time ago during an online search for something or other, it might have even been a topic from this forum, I found this site. He goes into detail about how he propagates orchids using backbulbs

Orchid backbulbs

[delphiguy]

norris
this is very helpful indeed, thanks for the link.

[tansyflower]

Very interesting site.

[Celcat]

Thank you very much Norris. The site seems to be a good source of info. I can see that there is some experiments with oncidiums, but not with odotonglossum.
I have repotted a Colmanara Wildcat 'Bobcat' backbulb. It is a try, if it does work (no matter how long it takes), it will be a great experiment to me and a free plant.
You just have to be patient

[mosmanlow]

I generally get 40% success for back bulbs of
cymbidiums and a bit lower say 25% for oncium back bulbs.

Cymbidium back bulbs can be single but for oncidium I generally
have 2 to 3 back bulbs together as I find single bulb generally
failed for oncidium.

Need lots of patience but can be challenging and very satisfying!

Good luck

[Celcat]

Thank you mosmanlow for your insight,

Funny enough, yesterday I have noticed a new growth on this oncidium old backbulb. I could not beleive it, I only divided a month ago and here it is with a new growth. So my patience for once has not been tested

So here a pic, the 1st one is a bit out of focus, but you can still see it and i have attached a pic of the mother...

[Ochin@]

Oh wow, lucky you, I would say the mother plant is beautiful, and well worth the time it may take for that new growth to reach blooming size.

[CharliesAngel51]

Congratulations celcat, you certainly beat the odds. Good job.

[norris]

Yes, I agree about beating the odds, I've not been able to get a growth from Oncidium type orchids. Good job

[mosmanlow]

Celcat...Congratulations that there is new shoot
from the old back bulbs. It is really worthwhile
and the mother plant is well grown.

Great job and best wishes

[Celcat]

Thank you to all of you for your comments,

I am very pleased with the result of this division. Like what getting a new growth from an oncidium back bulb is possible and can be done, and in this case with fast result. The 'mother' is a very good bloomer, I can get up to 3 blooms per year
Now I wonder how long I will have to wait for this baby to bloom. I will put my my bet around the end of this year, but perhaps I am a bit optimistic

[Raptuserum]

Thanks for the link!!

I'm on the process or backbulbing my wildcat, brassia, jimbo swarm and grammatophyllum scriptum... the link is of great help!!

Cheers!!

[Celcat]

Good luck Raptuserum. I wish you success with repotting your back bulbs.

I have attached a pic back bulb repotted. It is doing well, it has grown quite a bit since my last pic

[Celcat]

I thought I will share a small update with you lot,

The back bulb of one of my prostechea encyclia has given me a new growth as well and the next this one is my NOID oncidium one. Remember this one earlier in the thread? Well, it is doing well too

[solay]

Nice job. Looking really good there. I've only really tried Cym. backbulbs and get good success. Now waiting for them to get to blooming size is the harder part. The mother plant is beautiful by the way.

[Azure]

Nice job. The mother plant looks well worth the wait. I divided a cym. (my only one) a while ago and got two backbulbs. Both have sprouted new growths, and very quickly too.

[kmarch]

Thanks for these occasional updates! I think this is extremely valuable as a teaching tool for those interested in propagating from back bulbs. I know it is slowly starting to change my thinking on the matter. I have typically thought it was too difficult and the success rate far too low to warrant bothering....but this thread is giving me second thoughts.

[Celcat]

I always thought that propagation with back bulb was an easy process and cheap. I dont know if I have been lucky here. But I did not do anything special.
I used big back bulbs, potted them in tiny pots and left them in my kitchen, usually on top of my fridge. I did not do the spag bag method.
I would not conclude that generally it is an easy and quick process, but it is definitively fun to try and very cheap
For me this experience was definitively an easy process, and I find it exciting. I will keep posting update until they bloom for the 1st time

[Celcat]

Hello everyone

I thought I will give you a small update. My divisions are doing very well, actually I think they growing fast. My tiny backbulb of a prostechea encyclia which I have repotted with the others did give me a new growth but it is sooooo tiny, it is hard very hard to take a pic (ok, it is a bit out of focus, so I hope that some of you will see it). But I was so impatient to show you all, I am posting it anyway. In the same I thought I would put some updated pic of the other two.

Celine

[Ochin@]

Wow, they sure have grown since the last update about a month ago, this is great, I'll definitely have to try that when I repot my Oncidium. Thank you for sharing.

[digitalgate]

this is really cool ,

[lmartiny]

That is so neat Celcat.

[norris]

They are looking great! I bet you get flowers sooner than you think.

[Celcat]

Initially, I was hoping that they will flower by the end of this year, but that it is a bit optimistic. Hopefully, early next year

[digitalgate]

Originally Posted by Celcat

Initially, I was hoping that they will flower by the end of this year, but that it is a bit optimistic. Hopefully, early next year

that i dont think so. It will take at least 1.5 years, assuming you grown it in the tropics.

[Celcat]

Oh dear, I will have to wait a bit longer I guess I cannot beat the odds everytime I am still happy with the fact that 3 out of 4 back bulbs repotted individually (all at the same time) have given me a new growth.

[CharliesAngel51]

Thanks for posting up dates. This has been a very encouraging and useful thread.

[lance]

yes, thank you celcat! this has been very encouraging! (also gives me hope)

[Celcat]

a small update, because last time that I have posted the pic of my tiny back bulb repotted, you really needed an eagle eye to spot the new growth!! A month later, we can clearly see the new growth.
I put updated pic of the others two, as you can see they grow very well

[FLBob]

Well done.

[Stelios]

well done! they seem they are thriving with each update.

[berniep]

G'Day Celcat

Great growing don't forget to keep us in the loop as they grow.

Cheers
Bernie

[digitalgate]

now where are going to house all this plant? he he he.

[Rivka]

i have been having pretty good luck with a little tiny and mean tiny back bulb of a Milt that fell off when i was repotting the main plant, you can see the thread here. it is growing strong after its slow start.

that thread: I Got A Back Bulb To Grow!

[Rivka]

i have a general question about do this.

if i have a decent size plant and a lot of bare back bulbs can i take them off and hopefully get them to start a new growth point with the goal on putting them back in the same pot as the main plant so that in the end i have more lead growths? i was thinking this since some of my chids have 4,5 or even 7 growth points and others have just 1.

my questions are is would it be good to take them off only 2 or 3 in a clump to help the new growth to get to blooming faster or something?
also and this is grey area, if i did this and potted them back together, is this still one plant or do i have to "disclose" this if i ever was to show the plant? i was thinking that this naturally happens as chids grow, i have found mine fallen into two as i was repotting, it was a natural division as it were.
it seems like a nice way to spread out a super tightly clumped plant. i have one that seems like it is choking for room amongst the bulbs for the roots to grow and the roots are such a tight ball that i wonder if it is making enough contact with my s/h to get all the water it needs (though right now it is a really healthy plant)

[Celcat]

Originally Posted by digitalgate

now where are going to house all this plant? he he he.

I am going to give them away to my friends it is going to be hard to let them go sniff sniff, it is so difficult because you get attach to them!!

Rivka,

I dont have big experience in the matter. This thread is about my lil experiment with single back bulb repotting.
I know that of some of my oncidiums had very tight root ball. When I repotted them, some did like the repotting experience and some did not. I did experience like you when I repot, the orchid divides almost by itself. I have one she is doing very slowly, it was 4 bulbs and I ended up with 2 x 2. This chid really did not like it and almost 2 years later it still doing very slowly.
For the prostechea encyclia, my experience so far, they grow like weed, it doesnt matter how many back bulbs are/is in the pot, they just grow

All I can say, you have to try

[Celcat]

Hello everyone

Remember my lil prostechea encyclia back-bulb
I thought I was going to share the good news with you! I have been waiting for a lil while because I wanted to share with you the 1st flower but I cannot wait any longer!! Today, when I came back from my week-end, I have noticed the sheath just opened I dont want too be optimistic but I am pretty sure that it will give me a flower the next few days

Of course, I will keep you posted

[digitalgate]

if this flower , you beat my number flat!

[Celcat]

I know it would have taken 9 months only between the day I have repotted the back bulb on its own and its 1st flower, and in a lil flat in UK, definitively not a tropical climate which I think it is very good for a new plant

[Celcat]

Hello everyone

My first flower is here!! I have made it before the end of this year it took approximatively 9 months from repotting an individual backbulb!!! Definitively a good thing for a new and free plant.
The 'mother' has just started to flower too, I guess she waiting for her baby

Anyway here the pics, the 2d is the 'mother' plant next to the baby.

Thank you for reading

Celine

[Choodles]

gotta love those P. cochleatas- I took a backbulb division a month and a half ago, and I'm floored at how fast it's growing. these were the first plants I recognized as orchids, and I've been enamored with them since. P. radiata is pretty nifty, too.

nice work- single BB to flowering new growth in 9 months is pretty impressive. congrats!

[bibliofloris]

What a neat thread! I agree with Celcat -- seems like a great cheap and interesting orchid project to try, even if I don't get such outstanding results.

Thanks, Celcat, for posting the experiment and updates, and thanks to everyone else for their information too! (And that prosthechea or encyclia or whatever it is these days just moved up a few more notches on my wishlist...)

[Celcat]

Thank you,

It is a prosthechea cochleata. I have used the old name in some of older posts. I always get a bit mixed between the new and old name
They are indeed lovely plant, relatively easy to grow and fragrant too

They are a good choice, I should next look for a P. radiata. They look like a bird ... well to me

[bibliofloris]

Originally Posted by Celcat

They are a good choice, I should next look for a P. radiata. They look like a bird ... well to me

*adds P. radiata to wishlist*
Thanks for the recommendation!