U. alpina tubers

[jimscott]

In another topic that is now disappearing, Tamlin described how he cultivates U. alpina. In yet another topic, I was under the impression, perhaps wrongly, that the tubers can be the beginning of new plants. Is that correct? Can I separate the tubers and plant them in separate pots, to produce new plants?

 

[Glenn]

Question: U.alpina tubers, what to do with them?

Answer: Send them to me!

Sorry I couldn't resist. I unfortunately don't know the real answer but good luck!

Glenn

 

[Clint]

the tubers real function is to conserve water, but i think if you seperate the tubers they will grow stolons and become new plants.

 

[Seandew]

Good question Jim. I've been wondering the same thing myself for a while.

If anybody wants to send me one I'll answer the question for you.

 

[Clint]

i'm pretty sure we can find out ourselves, maybe you should buy a plant and test it for yourself? i have extras if you want to trade.

 

[jimscott]

Quote[/b] (Seandew @ July 27 2004,10:26)]Good question Jim. I've been wondering the same thing myself for a while.

If anybody wants to send me one I'll answer the question for you.

Oh no! Sean, if you don't know, we may be in trouble!

how do I get a tuber to Down Under, what with the CITES thing and all. Can't be done vicariously.

 

[Pyro]

I have never tried this with U. alpina but I think I have a plant I can mangle a bit for experimental purposes. However, my first attempt at U. geminiloba was a tuber that was all that was left after the mailing process. That tuber generated a new plant but it took a long time, bare in mind this plant is from a different section though. I have also tried to start U. unifolia from a tuber and that failed miserably but that might have been due to a pest problem.

As an additional statment here, last night I was inspecting my U. jamesoniana pots. In one of them I saw new growth that was about as far across the pot from the main plant as possible. Closer examination has revealed that this new growth has come up from a tuber that must have broken off while I was potting the plants up, there is no connection to the main plant. With this information in hand I can now say it is at least possible to successfully propogate from tubers for one plant in this section so it is very probable that others will respond in kind. Tonight I think I am going to pull one tuber from each of my Orchidioides plants and drop them all into a pot and see what happens. Hopefully something cool.

 

[Tony Paroubek]

Australia has very strict import and quarantine regulations.  Sending plants to there is a big no no.

As long as there is some of the horizontal stolon left on top of the tuber I would think it would send out new shoots.. ie the junction where the stolon is branched off from the main stolon.

 

[Seandew]

As much as I'd love to receive some I will never be able to receive any. As Tony said Australia has extremely strict import laws and I work for the government agency that polices these laws. My only real hope of growing the species is from seed.

 

[jimscott]

Tony & Pyro: What soil media, moisture, lighting, etc.. would you use to propogate the tubers?

Sean, if I ever get fortunate enough to see a flower - you would be the first I'd send seeds to - legally, of course.

 

[Copper]

It is my understanding that the plant can grow up from tuber, but I am not sure. I will separate off a tuber and try.

 

[Pyro]

Jim,

I grow all my Orchidioides in a 2-3" thick layer of LFS overlaying a substrate of orchid bark/tree fern fiber/lava rock (or clay pellets). An equal parts mix of LFS/orchid bark/perlite is also reported to work well. The important thing is to NOT grow them in media that is constantly saturated. I only water when the LFS starts to look dry, basically treating these guys like typical house plants. I would treat the tubers similarly though I would probably be inclined to go easier on the watering, never really drenching them until I saw actual growth.

Sean,

I was unfortunatly not successful with selfing my plant this season but when I am I already have plans to send some to Phill Mann (I have been passing him a bunch of my spare seed to help build the variety of CPs in cultivation down there.) If/when I get blooms again and have spare I would be happy send some your way and if I don't have spare Phill will undoubtedly be offering them in time.

 

[Seandew]

Thanks Jim and Travis any seed would be very much appreciated should you ever manage to produce soem. And of course I'll reciprocate with something equally as nice.

 

[jimscott]

I decided to take a look at what is happening beneath the surface. This is what I observed: I counted 6 tubers intead of 3. They were smaller than I remembered them. Some had roots(?) No new leaves above ground. Can anybody tell me what is going on?

I used the search function to see if these observations and questions were raised before. I read some interestin discussions involving Pyro, Copper, Dodecatheon, etc, but nothing about what I have experienced.

 

[Pyro]

JIm,

Sounds to me like your tubers are beginning to grow out. The reason the tubers look smaller is probably because the original ones have given up some mass for growth and the others are new additons. If you are seeing stolon (root) growth that is a good sign, most Orchidioidies will establish themselves from the ground up (in my experience.) Don't be surprised if it takes six months or more before you see leaves. I have an asplundii that has only just now put up a new leaf after a year but the stolons have grown out both the sides and bottom of the pot in that time.

 

[jimscott]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! That's encouraging. Hmmm, gotta get through the Fall & Winter, though. I'm open to suggestions on alpina and the epiphytes I received.