When the plant is back to an upright position and is ready to grow on again undisturbed for the next few years. The remaining piece of plant and the back bulbs can also be potted in the same way. Once growing, the backbulb propagations will remain in their pots for about six months to a year, and can then be ‘dropped on’. The propagation of orchid plants is one way of increasing the numbers in your collection, and it can be very satisfying to grow a young plant on to flowering size.
The plant is removed from the basket in the usual way, and cleaned of its bark compost. The bare-rooted plant is then placed on the raft with a pad of ostnunda fibre, into which the roots have been folded, between the plant and the wood.
Ideally the plant should be left with at least four pseudobulbs, including those in leaf, on the main plant. The excess pseudobulbs can be removed by slicing them from the plant with a sharp knife. The cut should he made downward to sever the rhizome.
From the time of removing a backbulb from the plant, it can take about six weeks before any sign of growth movement is seen, and in some cases it can be considerably longer. Provided that the backbulb remains plump it may be left in the hope that it will eventually grow. It may even take up to a year before growth is seen.
In order to remove the plant without harming it, it will be necessary to cut away the basket around the area where the pseudobulbs have grown. Having done this the plant is divided into three pieces, two flowering size divisions and a couple of leafless backbulbs which can be propagated from if wished.
The main part of the plant is now the piece with the leading pseudobulbs at an angle to the rest of the plant. Having divided the plant it will now be possible to pot this main piece with the leading pseudobulbs brought into an upright position and the older pseudobulbs laid on their sides and partially buried by the compost.
