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propagation of ludisia discolor

15 years ago

I read somewhere that one can start new plants of this orchid with cuttings. I have one in bloom right now. If I cut the stem with the bloom will I be able to start a new plant?

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Comments (11)

xmpraedicta
15 years ago
I think you need a bit of the fleshy part for this to succeed. You might sometimes see bits of the fleshy part making root nubbins ... those are ripe for cutting!
terpguy
15 years ago
In propagating most plant material it's best to take cutting from a nonblooming stem. Nonblooming stems generate auxins, which are rooting hormones, and this dramatically increases your chances of success. Blooming stems aren't producing these auxins in helpful concentrations. With ludisia, they're so easy and tolerant that it probably won't make much of a difference and will probably root anyways. But now is not really the time to be dividing most plants anyways, so I'd wait until spring to do this.
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Help with Ludisia discolor
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Comments (6)
Thanks for all the advice. I changed the pot's position with the Phal. at the end of the shelf, so it's now not getting any direct sun (in front of the window on the other wall of the corner, facing NW) before I saw the photos of somebody's Ludisia with direct sun (I seem to have lost where I saw the photo, but remember the sun shining through the window, but they may have been in the more northerly areas, so winter sun isn't too strong), so am now wondering if that is the best place or not. I keep almost all my Phals in the living room (which gets very little direct, early AM sun, on the NE end, with 2 big windows - there's a porch on the SE side, with 3 windows, so no direct light, and in winter, there's no direct light on the back, NW side, 3 windows also), and have done so for the past 6-7 years. The Phals seem to do fine - I have flower spikes on about 10 of them now. Those not in the living room are on a shelf about halfway up the stairs, with very bright, indirect light from 2 big windows in the stair dormer. I can move the Ludisia there, if the advice is to give it more light - Carter and Holmes had several Ludisias along with other orchids, on a table in the center of a white-glazed green-house, so no direct sun. Since we went through about 10 of their 14-16 greenhouses, I don't now remember what else was growing in there as well, but they seemed to mix some species up and keep some together - probably having as much to do with space available as needs of the plants. So that recollection is NO help for suggesting siting!
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ludisia discolor died......
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Comments (4)
Hi tropichris; A nice orchid grower gave me a broken off piece of a Ludesia discolor. It was the 4-5 inch tip of a larger plant. It had an endbud and 3-4 leaves, but no roots. I laid it in a saucer, with the leafy end elevated at the saucer's edge, and with the stemmy end on a thin pad of damp sphagnum moss (NZ)--not covered. I placed the dish in bright, indirect light--right by the sliding glass doors. When the sphagnum was almost dry, I misted ONLY the stem area until the sphag was evenly damp (not swimming). Depending on the weather, this sometimes meant misting it twice a day (it was about this time last year). Little Ludie didn't wilt, but nothing happened fast. Eventually, when I lifted the stem to peek at the node areas underneath, I saw that some nobby looking root beginnings had formed. At this point (and tired of spritzing the sphag so often) I lightly covered half the stem area with a sphag layer equaling that underneath. This I dampened as often as necessary to keep it from drying completely. I never misted the leafy part. Slowly, more root nubs and three leaf buds appeared at the stem nodes, so I soaked a well sorted medium of small fir bark, charcoal, and pearlite (probably 3:1:1) and potted Ludie in terracotta. All three sprouts made their ways to the edge of the pot. I live in an area of low humidity, but Ludie doesn't seem to care. I keep it damper than a Phal (keeping a skewer well down in the medium to check for dampness) watering it about once in five or six days (here). It's growing fine, but so dang S-L-O-W-L-Y that I wonder if I'm missing something. No spikes, yet, but it has only been established for 8-10 months. Sweetcicely
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Ludisia discolor - a couple questions
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Comments (8)
I said it might be Ludisia discolor var.nigrescens. There doesn't seem to be a register of orchid varieties though it is useful to look up the checklist of plant species kept at Kew. My understanding is that a variety is something found in nature while a clone is something that is a result of cultivation. Looking at a tag of one of my orchids; C. intermedia var. coerulea. (4n) x var. amethystina (4n) Only amethystina appears on the RHS checklist. This orchid flowered not looking like either of those varieties. ie a "normal" C. intermedia though superior to most in shape, size and texture. I benched it at an orchid meeting as C.intermedia 'Luther' There is no register of clone names but some names are informally reserved such as Carmela, Orchidglade, H & R, etc etc. Getting back to your orchid I prefer var. nigrescens to the horrible 'The Black Jewel Orchid' Good luck in the murky world of nomenclature. This post was edited by arthurm on Sun, Sep 21, 14 at 2:44
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Ludisia Discolor...rotting
Q
Comments (1)
It's in pure sphag? You need to be VERY careful with the watering then. Sphag holds quite a bit of water. If you are going to use sphag, then the goal is moist -- not sopping wet -- right after watering. Then do not water again until the sphag is almost dry (so barely moist) to a depth of about an inch (roughly the length of the first digit of one's index finger). And yes, you should remove the glass jar. Moist, stagnant air is begging for fungal issues ... and if the media was overly moist, fungi are pretty much guaranteed. This plant does perfectly fine in "normal" household conditions -- the higher humidity of the average terr is unnecessary. I grow mine as a regular houseplant -- in a pot on an endtable where it receives somewhat bright indirect light. Also I don't grow mine in moss. A mix of orchid bark mix and potting soil (the type WITHOUT fertilizer already added ( and boy that can be hard to find these days!) mixed in a ratio of 3:1 -- bark mix to potting soil -- has always worked well for me. If it is rotting near the base, then yes, cut it above the section. You can dip the cutting in rooting hormone if you like. It is not necessary but shouldn't hurt. (Make sure you tap off any excess powder -- too much causes issues ... for most plants really.) Let the cutting sit unpotted for a day or two in order to allow the cut to callous over. Then pot it up in media which is just barely moist. Place it in a warm "bright shade" area. Should root up. On the plus side, Ludisia is a fairly inexpensive plant -- or at least it should be. If you paid more than $6 or $7 for a single growth plant then, IMO, you paid too much. If, despite your best efforts, the cutting does not make it you can contact me. (I have several cuttings that should be rooted by now.) We'll work something out. Good luck!
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claire1_2008
15 years ago
Hi Quicksilver,

Here is what Taylor's Guide Orchids writes on ludisia (Lds): "To propagate new plants, cut the stem into pieces, each with two dormant buds, and place on moist sphagnum moss in a terrarium-like box with bottom heat of 80 degrees F." Hope this helps.
ifraser25
15 years ago
Hmm. This is not an easy plant to propagate. I would not attempt it, as cutting the stems invariably causes them to rot. Mostly they are grown from seed. Also not easy. Very large old plants can be divided. Probably this is your best option but you will need to be very patient.
terpguy
15 years ago
Not so, ifraser! They're painfully easy to start from cuttings. I don't know a single person who has had any problems getting them to root simply by plopping it into a pot and letting them do their thing, or by rooting them in water.
garyfla_gw
15 years ago
Hi
Here's my two cents lol. I grow 5 kinds of JO but not well . They grow and flower just not spectacularly like I know they can be. LD is runaway the easiest to propagate of the five IME. The main problem is rot i use long fibered Sphag in a shaded 10 gallon aquarium . I feel that humidity must be over 70 percent . Try Claire 1 directions
maybe with some rooting hormone?? keep them warm, for sure
above 75 . and use RO or rainwater in case you have hardwater??
ifrasure Have never heard of anyone growing them from seed . Would be an interesting but I'm sure slow process. But where would I find seed.? I don't think any of mine have set seed but I'm sure they're incredibly small with probably a short shelf life?? gary
littlem_2007
15 years ago
i have to add my experience with this because it is so different: I bought a small LD from a garden centre. after i repotted it in terrestial type mix, after a few months part of the "runner" in the mix started to rot. i took it out of the mix when i realized what was happening. some pieces sort of fell apart and after cutting off the rotten parts i have a few pieces. i put them all in water and they have been growing nicely with new roots. one of the pieces is flowering right now. i add a bit of superthrive once in a while and some dyna grow fertilizer every so often. i wash out the container and change the water when i think of it- but i mostly use tap water which i know must be somewhat hard because there is mineral deposit on the outside of my clay pots. also my house is at 68F unless i have guests who get cold - then it is at 74F while they are here. i have decided to keep them in water only. maybe mine is a canadian species which is bred to our climate.. LOL... also, i have found that it needs more than phal level light.

sue
cjwatson
15 years ago
I find they root very easily in water, and then can be potted up.
quicksilver
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you all for the great input! The plant I have now is mostly stem and stalk with bloom, and not enough foliage for me. If I get the nerve when it gets warmer this summer I guess I'll chop it up.
garyfla_gw
15 years ago
Hi
Curious as to which method you'll use?? As usual with GW web answers, the run from easy to impossible lol. Interesting how different the experiences with the same plant. lol Do you have enough to try them all?? Would be interesting which one worked best in your situation gary
quicksilver
Original Author
15 years ago
I have a lot of stem but not much in the way of "nubbins". I am leaning towards putting them in water, if for no other reason than that I will be able to monitor the results.

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