As the new bulbs form, the old...

Here are more orchid-growing tips (continued from my last post)...

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As the new bulbs form, the old ones frequently begin to lose their leaves and roots.

They become 'poor relations,' a drag on the living plant.

On being severed from the living plant the backbulbs, as these old drybulbs are called, will, if placed in a warm, moist spot, start life over.

After two, three, or perhaps four years these will be new plants and will flower.

The advantage of the backbulb type of propagation over the growing of seedlings is that the flower will exactly resemble that of the original plant, while in the seedling there is no way to tell whether it will resemble one parent plant or the other or be something entirely different.

Plants of monopodial growth, like Vanda, Renanthera, and Angraecum, with the new growth appearing continuously from the top or crown, will not divide so readily.

The only method of propagation for them, other than seed growing, is to cut off the top of the plant below several of the husky aerial roots.

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I'll post more orchid care tips soon!

- Sara