pseudobulb question??

nabakov5 · #1 05-09-2006, 08:39 PM

Thanks for the advice on my Brassia. I just had one more question/curiosity. I was wondering about the nature of the pseudobulb. Is there a science to the pseudobulb? what I mean is.....When the plant produces a new pseudobulb, will the next step be for that pseudobulb to send up a stalk? Can the same pseudobulb produce multiple stalks? or once the pseudobulb produces the stalk, is that it and the plant has to grow another pseudobulb? Do pseudobulbs die off eventually? or do they hang out for the life of the plant? Just a few questions. This brassia is only my second orchid that has pseudobulbs, so I'm still in unfamiliar waters. Thanks again guys. Cheers,
Cat

orchid-man · #2 05-09-2006, 11:22 PM

All back bulbs ,as we call them if they are not the front one(:ie the one that has the growth coming from it),act as a food storage for the plant.Where the plants grow there may be times where there is no water,so the plant lives off what it has stored.

When you are referring to a stalk from the bulbs ,I presume that you are referring to a flower spike,and it goes like this,some plants produce their spike just as the growth is starting,some prodruce the spike as the buld is developing or filling out,then some produce there flowers only when the bulb is mature.If that isnt bad enough there are some that flower on what it produced the year before.It all depends on the family(genus) and the species
and can vary greatly even within the family.

Most of our plants only flower from the bulbs once but with some there may be maore than one spike per bulb.
What ever you do ,DO NOT remove the bulbs when they have flowered.A flowering plant needs at least 3-4 of these bulbs,so when the plant is broken up or repotted 3-4 bulbs is minimum.
The life of thses backbulbs depends on your culture,but eventually they will die,but hopefully before then you will be able to cut them off and get them to come away ,therefore giving you another plant.