Remember the "What affects spike length" discussion?

[Ray]

I have concluded that it MUST have been exposure to something, although I don't recall what it might have been.

This is one of the affected paphs - Paph Xanthophyllum in a 4.5" pot. Anyone want to guess the order in which the three developed after exposure?

 

[likespaphs]

i'll guess that the tallest first, the shortest second and the third was the middle tallest.
you didn't move the plant as they were coming out, did you?

 

[Ray]

Nope, the thing was still on the bench the whole time.

The shortest one was first, and it has the most twisted inflorescence. The medium one was second, with only that single "S" you see near the flower. The tall, normal one was last - making it farthest time-wise from whatever caused the issue.

Fortunately, this also tells me it's reversible, so unless I reintroduce the problem treatment, they should all be OK next time round.

 

[Brian Monk]

Ray -

I did some (very empirical) experimentation on several plants this year using a Giberellin preparation distributed at gardening centers. The most interesting experiment was carried out on a single Ctna. Why Not that had 10 developing infloresences. I exposed 3 spike to the giberrellin twice during development, 3 were exposed once, and the rest were not exposed. IN addition, three other Why Nots were not exposed at all. All plants developed in the same place and light, with identical watering and care patterns. I was most interested in seeing if the giberellins would actually increase flower count. What happened was similar to your plant - the most exposed spikes grew 2-4 times as long as the unexposed spikes on both the treated and untreated plants, and the others spikes fell halfway between in length. Flower count did not seem to be influenced.

 

[Ray]

Brian,

I know I did not use any giberellins, but yes, they are known to increase spike length.

In this case, the exposure to whatever-it-was had more effect on inflorescences that were farther along in their formation. The lowest flower had about a 1/2" spike and the beginnings of a bud. The middle one was just the typical thickened structure emanating from the crown of the plant, and the tall one was just a gleam in Mommy's eyes.

Whatever caused the twisted spikes (the only thing I can think of is Bayer Once-a-Year Tree & Shrub spray - a Merit-containing product) apparently affected the growth of the spike at the time of application (or for a short while thereafter). The low one was totally affected (along with several other mottled-leafed paphs), the middle one only at first, and the tall one, apparently not at all.

I have some others that have budded more recently, and they are equally unaffected.

 

[SlipperKing]

WOW! I just bought some of the Bayer T&S, haven't used it yet. I bought to use on a few Cats. I'll take notes on any coming into bud and see what happens if anything.

Rick H

 

[SlipperKing]

I used Seven dust 2 yrs back and I had a number of my multis, not mottled leaf Paphs developed split leaves out of the crown. The leaves developed normal growth but curled down and a round the base of the plant. The next new leaves all came out normal. So much for SevenDust!

Rick H