I just bought a gorgeous plant from the AOS - a huge, Dendrobium Salaya
Fancy with 3 separate spikes each with 10-15 buds or blooms. But, one of the
spikes broke off as I was taking it out of the car and into the house. :-(

I cut the bottom of the broken spike and placed it in water, hoping that the
remaining flowers open (3 open, ~8 to go).
Anything else I can do (besides crying, which will/did not help)?

Larry

Larry wrote:
I just bought a gorgeous plant from the AOS - a huge, Dendrobium
Salaya
Fancy with 3 separate spikes each with 10-15 buds or blooms. But, one
of the
spikes broke off as I was taking it out of the car and into the
house. :-(

I cut the bottom of the broken spike and placed it in water, hoping
that the
remaining flowers open (3 open, ~8 to go).
Anything else I can do (besides crying, which will/did not help)?

Larry

HI Larry;

When you think the plant is dead it has a way of rejuvinating. Two yrs.
ago my son in New Jersey was ready to throw out a Phalaenopsis that he
felt was dead. We drove it back home to Florida. 2 yrs. later it has 7
blooms, 7 flower spikes and 2 kikies. So DO NOT GIVE UP.( caps
intended) Duisting with some rooting (growth) hormone may help.( can't
hurt)
Bob

Thanks Bob. I remember hearing that story in a previous post.

But my plant is doing very well. It still has 2 long spikes with 10-18
blooms/buds. I was wondering what to do with the spike that broke off and
whether I can get the buds on it to bloom...

Larry


"bob" wrote in message
oups.com...
Larry wrote:
I just bought a gorgeous plant from the AOS - a huge, Dendrobium
Salaya
Fancy with 3 separate spikes each with 10-15 buds or blooms. But, one
of the
spikes broke off as I was taking it out of the car and into the
house. :-(

I cut the bottom of the broken spike and placed it in water, hoping
that the
remaining flowers open (3 open, ~8 to go).
Anything else I can do (besides crying, which will/did not help)?

Larry

HI Larry;

When you think the plant is dead it has a way of rejuvinating. Two yrs.
ago my son in New Jersey was ready to throw out a Phalaenopsis that he
felt was dead. We drove it back home to Florida. 2 yrs. later it has 7
blooms, 7 flower spikes and 2 kikies. So DO NOT GIVE UP.( caps
intended) Duisting with some rooting (growth) hormone may help.( can't
hurt)
Bob

Larry,

You know florists have something they put in their corsages to keep
them alive longer and that got me to thinking - treat the spike like a
rose. Keep the water fresh and cut the 'stem' at an angle while it's
still under water. You might try this as well as misting it.....good
luck....Burr

i had to cut a spike off a phal that lost it's roots, and just for the heck
of it i put it in a glass of water. amazingly it branched and set new buds!

so who knows? perhaps the same will happen to yours. if not, well...you can
cry when all the buds fall off, but only then!

--mo--

I'm pleased to say that the broken spike has been in water since I posted
the original message (3/8) and has done well since. That particular
dendrobium (Dend. Salaya Fancy) seems slow for buds to open, and the spike
in water is doing the same.

Larry


"auntymo" wrote in message
news:FN%%d.759920$8l.453464@pd7tw1no...
i had to cut a spike off a phal that lost it's roots, and just for the heck
of it i put it in a glass of water. amazingly it branched and set new buds!

so who knows? perhaps the same will happen to yours. if not, well...you
can cry when all the buds fall off, but only then!

--mo--

Now, now, is that for real?
A spike that was cut off and placed in water "branched and set new
buds"? Did those buds open?

Can that be repeated? I know some buds will open, a typical cut flower
thing; but "branched and set new buds"? I can't wait to duplicate that.
I have about 6 phals that are blooming right now, I can cut any one of
them, accidentally. How old was the spike when you cut it off?

auntymo wrote:
i had to cut a spike off a phal that lost it's roots, and just for the heck
of it i put it in a glass of water. amazingly it branched and set new buds!

so who knows? perhaps the same will happen to yours. if not, well...you can
cry when all the buds fall off, but only then!

--mo--

well here is the whole story. make of it what you will (i was pretty amazed
by it).

it was one of my early purchases from HD, a hybrid phal which i bought in
bloom. i decided to wait to repot it until it had finished blooming, which
was a big mistake (i have since learned that sphag hates me). the original
spike had branched and there were buds on it, but they blasted. at this
point i decided to repot and found the poor thing had no roots, so i cut the
spike off (without trimming any part of it), and just for kicks threw it in
a glass of water on my drafty south windowsill. i can't remember when i did
this but i think it was in november when i repotted everything.

shortly before xmas i noticed the spike had started a second branch! i just
shook my head in amazement. the tip on the first branch (whos buds blasted)
was still green at that point. the second branch got longer and longer, and
then i went on holidays mid-feb just when i could see a hint of a bud
starting.

upon arriving home (mid-march) i noticed it had one big fat bud that looked
close to opening, and a smaller one starting. but unfortunately the
housesitter had also let it go dry. so who knows if the bud will blast or
not, but i find it pretty interesting to see this kind of behaviour.

--mo--

Just the kind of orchids that I wanted to buy, the ones that can grow in
water. That way I can never water it too much.

auntymo wrote:
well here is the whole story. make of it what you will (i was pretty amazed
by it).

it was one of my early purchases from HD, a hybrid phal which i bought in
bloom. i decided to wait to repot it until it had finished blooming, which
was a big mistake (i have since learned that sphag hates me). the original
spike had branched and there were buds on it, but they blasted. at this
point i decided to repot and found the poor thing had no roots, so i cut the
spike off (without trimming any part of it), and just for kicks threw it in
a glass of water on my drafty south windowsill. i can't remember when i did
this but i think it was in november when i repotted everything.

shortly before xmas i noticed the spike had started a second branch! i just
shook my head in amazement. the tip on the first branch (whos buds blasted)
was still green at that point. the second branch got longer and longer, and
then i went on holidays mid-feb just when i could see a hint of a bud
starting.

upon arriving home (mid-march) i noticed it had one big fat bud that looked
close to opening, and a smaller one starting. but unfortunately the
housesitter had also let it go dry. so who knows if the bud will blast or
not, but i find it pretty interesting to see this kind of behaviour.

--mo--

update: well the bud blasted and fell off. oh well. it was a fun experiment
while it lasted :P

--mo--

I've found that Nun orchids (Phaius), which are terrestrials, will also root
from the bud spike. The one time I tried it I got about 10% new plants. My
present plants in the garden are just about to flower.

Since I live in central Florida, I have these orchids (along with a few
cymbidiums, a lot of epydendrum radicans and three terret (sp?) vandas
either in the ground or strapped to trees.

"Don Quixote" wrote in message
...
Now, now, is that for real?
A spike that was cut off and placed in water "branched and set new
buds"? Did those buds open?

Can that be repeated? I know some buds will open, a typical cut flower
thing; but "branched and set new buds"? I can't wait to duplicate that.
I have about 6 phals that are blooming right now, I can cut any one of
them, accidentally. How old was the spike when you cut it off?

auntymo wrote:
i had to cut a spike off a phal that lost it's roots, and just for the
heck
of it i put it in a glass of water. amazingly it branched and set new
buds!

so who knows? perhaps the same will happen to yours. if not, well...you
can
cry when all the buds fall off, but only then!

--mo--