Has anyone seen or had a 4 leaf cattleya ?

[CATONE]

This is a first for me. Many of my club members have never seen one. The orchid plant is Blc. Waianae Leopard. It has bloomed for me in the past.

[Halloamey]

I have some Epicattleyas like Don Hermann, Siam Jade, that do have 4 leaves, also Epc Rene' Marque's is known to occasionally have more sets of leaves, but never like this in this picture. In my plants they emerge one set after the other like a dendrobium for comparison, but never like this splitting from the same growth tip. Also your plant has no Epidendrum in its lineage so it should not behave like this. I think it is an abberation due to environment and or use of certain fertilizers and growth promoters. Keep a record if it consistently grows like this. Amazing find !

[Cjcorner]

To me it seems it would be a dna glitch from over hybridizing...but i'm no specialist.

[PaphMadMan]

Notice how it looks like 2 normal 2-leaf psuedobulbs close together? It is even thicker than the normal psuedobulbs. This is similar to flowers you sometimes see that have an extra lip or a couple extra petals. Doubled growths like these are usually not genetic problems, but triggered by some stress to the plant at a critical point in development. It can happen as easily with species as with hybrids. Sometimes the hormonal manipulation in mericloning can cause problems like this in very young plants, but this is obviously a mature plant far beyond that stage. In this case it is a plus because you can potentially get twice the flowers.

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Fascinating. Maybe it is also for good luck.

Cheers,
BD

[Cjcorner]

I would like the double the flowers part!

[CATONE]

Amey : I feel your answer might be correct. I am using a growth promoter added with my normal fertilizer. I also have another cattleya which normally has 2 leafs, now has some 3 leafs. I'm not sure if this is good or bad?

[Halloamey]

Only time will tell. See what are the effects on flowering, if the flowers are larger with better texture and or in greater number then it is good, but if they are slightly deformed or no flowers at all, then may be you have to reduce the dose of the growth promoter.

Amey : I feel your answer might be correct. I am using a growth promoter added with my normal fertilizer. I also have another cattleya which normally has 2 leafs, now has some 3 leafs. I'm not sure if this is good or bad?

[otis226]

Very interesting! I'm just getting the hang of the idea of my Cattleya walkeriana sometimes having one and sometimes two leaves. Thank you.
Tony

[taiping orchid]

Yes, I agree with the comment that this is not genetical fault. Most probably is the chemicals that we apply, like the pesticides, fungicides, fertilizers, growth promoters. Apply pesticides and fungicides according to the instructions given, do not over fertilized and be very careful with growth promoters.