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The Growth Patterns & Divisions of Orchids
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Monopodial Plant Division.
Where these plants grow in ideal conditions, such as in Hawaii & Singapore, they are used as cut flowers & even garden plants, & they can grow several metres tall quite happily. However in our climate, even under glasshouse conditions, the plants tend to lose their lower leaves as they start to attain a bit of height. This can make the plant look unsightly, but not only that, once the plant gets up over about a metre tall, it tends to take up quite a bit of space, which is at a premium for most of us anyway.
Plants of this particular growth habit will develop aerial roots from different points along the main stem, generally on the lower half of the plant. Once your plant has become too straggly or ungainly, it can be brought down to size by cutting it through the main stem below one of these aerial roots. This top section can now be potted up & supported with a stake, & should grow on quite happily.
You should however, ensure that when you cut & remove the upper section your plant, that you leave three or four leaves on the lower section of stem, as these keep the remaining lower section functioning normally, with the plants sap still flowing up to these leaves. Your plant, now realizing that it’s nicely growing top section is gone, will put all of its effort into producing new growths from the leaf axils. Over a period of some months, these growth will produce roots of their own, at which point they can be carefully removed from the main stem & potted up to become a new plant in their own right. These growths are known as Keiki’s (from the Hawaiian word Keiki meaning baby, so if you’re ever talking to someone from the Hawaiian Islands, & they tell you that the missus is at home with the Keiki’s, she may not necessarily be looking after an orchid collection), & occur on both sympodial & monopodial growth pattern orchids. As these growths develop their own root system (generally with roots at least 25mm long) they can be carefully removed from the parent plant & potted on

Sympodial Plant Division
      Once plants of this growth pattern have reached a size where they are unmanageable, or have out grown their pots, you need to carefully assess where it should be split up. When dividing these plants it is best to try to retain at least three pseudobulbs (from the Greek word pseudes, meaning false) on each piece of the division. This will encourage the new plant to flower again within the next couple of seasons, if not the following flowering season. Plants that are divided up into too smaller pieces may take a few years to grow back into flowering size plants.
These pseudobulbs are connected to each other via a rhizome, which, on some genera is quite obvious, while in other genera, is nearly non existent, however it is still there, & this rhizome is what must be cut when you are dividing up your plants. Attention must be paid to the direction & formation of pseudobulbs, as in many cases the point where the division is to be made will be quite evident.
When dividing plants up, you may see what appears to be a back bulb that looks like it is on it’s way out, but has a new growth off the base. It pays to leave the new growth attached to the pseudobulb, as this is still a storehouse that can be utilized by the new growth. If the shoot has developed it’s own root system & is removed from the pseudobulb, there is a good chance that it will survive & grow on quite happily, but it may take slightly longer to reach flowering stage.
Any back bulbs that are removed should not be discarded, as most will have a dormant shoot at the base. If these are placed in a bit of sand, kept moist & in a shady place, many will produce a new growth, which in time, will form a new plant. It may take sometime before you notice any growth off some bulbs, & others may never produce a growth, but give it a shot; there’s nothing to lose.
As with all good plant hygiene, the cutting instrument that you use should be sterilized between use on different plants, to prevent the spread of viruses & diseases etc, & the cuts that you make should be treated with some form of fungicide, to prevent rots setting in.
The above, both Sympodial & Monopodial divisions, is only really a generalization of plant division, & for specific genera divisions & repotting information, you should refer to the notes that have been & will be in our newsletters that have been supplied by some of our more knowledgeable members. If you have any doubts at all, just ask, there will always be someone that can help you out.
LOST & FOUNDS

Lost:
Antique Cameo Brooch depicting Adam & Eve at Cobb & Co Saturday night.
The growth patterns of Orchids.
Even though there is an extremely large variety of shapes, sizes & forms of orchids, their growth patterns can be divided into two main groups. These are Sympodial & Monopodial.

Sympodial Growth Pattern:
Most orchids fall into the category of the Sympodial growth habit, that is, they produce their new growth from the base of the previous seasons growth. Another feature of orchids that have a Sympodial habit is that most have pseudobulbs of one form or another, but there are exceptions to this such as paphiopedilums & phragmipediums etc.
The pseudobulb is not a bulb as such, but a thickened stem that has been developed by the plant for the storage of food & moisture, to carry it over seasonal dry spells in it natural habitat. Plants that do not have pseudobulbs live in habitats where there is moisture always available to them.
The pseudobulbs them selves come in a multitude of shapes & sizes, there are egg shaped ones as in Cymbids etc., rounded or oval ones as in Coelogyne, flattened ones as in Oncidiums, club shaped as with Cattleyas, & cane like pseudobulbs as with Dendrobiums & Epidendrums. Despite these vast differences in form & even growing habits, all of their new growths are produced from the base of the last season’s growths.

Monopodial Growth Pattern:
The growth pattern of these orchids is upwards, that is, the new growth is more an extension of the previous seasons growth. In general these plants, such as Phallys, Vandas, Doritis, to name but a few, produce leaves alternately on opposite sides of a central stem. The difference in spacings of the leaves can vary from very minimal to several centimetres, depending on the particular habits of the plant.
These Monopodial habit plants may also freely produce new growths or “Leads” from the leaf axils, which can, as they produce roots, be carefully removed & grown on as a new plant.
Plants of this growth habit never produce Pseudobulbs.