back bulbs

[charity]

anyone use back bulbs to start new plants? I had a pretty oncidium brassia cross (I think) that had become a monster. When I repotted it, it was too large to go in the new pot and two older bulbs were below soil level. I snapped them off and was going to discard them but couldn't. So now they are sitting in a pot, taking up room I don't have, and I'm waiting to see if they do something. Any thoughts?

[JDT]

Once they have grow a new PB from the older bulb 99.9% of the time they are finished putting out new growth, toss them and make room for something that will make you happy.

[zainal abidin]

Yup...especially Dendrobium and Bulbophyllum species so far the outcome is good.

[Mike H]

I pulled a single back bulb off a NOID Zygopetalum about nine months ago and potted it up.

[raybark]

When you sever a rhizome, separating an old pseudobulb from "the colony", it is similar to "topping" a plant. Meristematic tissue exists at every point that growth can occur - tip of the rhizome, tip of a new shoot, or flower spike. Removing that can send a signal to the plant to "reroute" its efforts into creating more at a new point - hence the reason topping a shrub results in multiple, branched growths, or that crown rot can lead to the development of a side shoot (AKA "basal keiki") in phals.

So, while any back bulb can sprout new growths, it's age and condition (i.e., does it have sufficient energy and nutrient stores) will play a huge role in whether it will successfully do so.