TOPCUTTINGVANDAORCHIDS

Vandaorchidsareamonopodialgrowingplant,whichputsimplymeansthattheycontinuetogrowverticallyupasinglestem,gettinglonger.Thisissomewhatdifferenttomanyotherorchidsthatproducerhizomesgrowingacrossapotorhost,movinginahorizontaldirection.Mostrhizomegrowingorchidshavetwoeyesorgrowthpointsoneachrhizome,allowinggrowthfromeitherpointshouldtheneedarise.However,aVandaorchidisverydifferenttothis.

AsaVandaplantgrows,newleavesbecomevisibleatthetopoftheplant.Asitcontinuestomaturethestemgrowsandtheplantbecomestaller.Thisproducesahealthyplantwiththeleavesspreadingtobothsidesofthestem,producingafan-likeappearance.Asseeninpicture1,aVandaplantshouldhaveleavesfromthegrowingtopoftheplantallthewaytothebasejustabovethepottingmediaorhostmaterial.Thishoweverisnotalwaysthecase…

Sowhathappenswhensomethinggoeswrongandtheplantdropsthelowerleaves?Thesimpleansweristhatyouendupwithaplantwhichlooksandisoftendescribedasa‘PalmTree’(asseeninpicture2).Whenthisoccursitgivestheappearanceofpoorculture,makingtheplantslookscraggily.Howeveryoucantakeactiontorestorethemtotheirfan-likeglory.

Sowhatcausesthis‘PalmTree’effect?Themostcommoncauseiscoldweather–iftheplantisexposedtothecolditwillnaturallydropthelowerleaves.Thisdoesnotmeanthattheplantissickbutsimplyithasbeenplacedunderstressbytheconditions.Othercausescanbemoreproblematicandmaybefungalorbacterialinnature.Thiswouldrequiretheunderlyingcausetobetreatedbeforeanyremedialworkisundertakenandifyouareunsureyoushouldseekassistancefromexperiencedgrowers.Itismyexperiencehoweverthatmostfungalorbacterialproblemsaffectthenewtopgrowthratherthancausingthebottomleavestodrop.Oncethedamageisdonehoweveritisirreversibleandtheeffectisthe‘PalmTree’look.

TopcuttingVandaOrchidsisonewayofcorrectingthe‘PalmTree’problem.AsVandaOrchidsgrowtallertheyoftenproduceadditionalrootsfromvariouspointsupthestem(asseeninpicture3).Innaturethesenewrootswouldattachtothehosttreeorrockforminganewanchorpointfortheplant,allowingittocontinuetothriveinitsuprightnaturalway.Luckilyfortheorchidenthusiast,thisgivesustheopportunitytoremovethebottomoftheplanteffectivelyshorteningthestemandbringingthelowestleavesbacktothepotorhost.Providedtheplanthasgrownnewrootsupthestemthisiseasilydonebycuttingthroughthestemcompletely.Itispreferabletoleaveaminimumoffournew,wellestablishedrootsattachedtothetopoftheplant.Thecutshouldbeonananglesothatwaterdoesnotgatherandallowfungusorsimilarproblemstooccur.Itisbesttocompletethiswhentherootsareactivelygrowingwithgreentips.OncedoneIliketosealthecutwitheithersomeSteri-Pruneorapasteoffungicideandallowittosittodryforadayorsobeforerepotting

intothenewmediaorattachingtothenewhost.Ifindthislimitsthestresstotheplantanditcontinuestogrowasifnothinghadhappened.

Theolderbaseoftheplantcaneitherbediscarded,orkepttoseeifitwillproduceanysidegrowthsforminganewplant.Shouldanewshootoccur,thiscancontinuetobegrownuntilitproducesitsownrootsandcanthenberemovedfromtheoriginalstemusingcuttersorasharpinstrumentandpottedon(asperpicture4).

Someplantshowever,willnotproduceanynewrootsupthestemwhichcreatesaproblem,ascuttingthetopoffthestemwithoutrootsisaskingfortrouble.Inthiscase,rootgrowthcanbeencouragedbycuttingapproximately½waythroughthestemandapplyingsomerootinghormone.Iliketoplaceathinplastictagsoakedinthehormoneintothecutandleaveitthere,asthisseemstoworkwellforme(asseeninpicture5).Withinafewmonths,ifallgoeswell,somenewrootswillappearandoncesufficientgrowthhasoccurredthenormalprocedureabovecanbeundertaken.Justatiphere,ensurethatthetopoftheplantiswellsupportedbeforecuttinghalfwaythroughthestemoryourplantmaybreakprematurely.

Byfollowingthesesimpletechniquesyoucanhavebeautifulplantswithfullleafgrowthjustasnatureintendedandbetheenvyofyourorchidgrowingbuddies.

Happygrowing.

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