About 7 years ago I started some Epis from seed and have tracked the plants from year to year as they got bigger. This year I'm really frustrated as this year I was hoping for blooms but the nodes along the branches seem to be "blind". Usually you get the vein running from the center of the branch out to node where the bud appears. My branches seem to be completely smooth with no indication of a vein or bud. I didn't think to check but I think all the branches are coming from the center of the plant. No branches coming from the branches.
Obviously a lot of folks cross pollinate and grow hybrids to blooming stage but is my situation common. I don't think my plants are going to bloom at all. Is sterile the right word to use?

I will try to remember to post some pics of the branches over the weekend.

Mike, how can you tell if the buds are blind? I have a lot of epies with little white fuzzies in the leaf nodes, but none seem to be forming into buds. Could I have "blind buds" too?

Some of mine have lots of veins, but don't set buds and others no veins at all.

How are the "ribbon" epi's we started from seed doing? Mine have pretty much stalled out but it's not exactly tropical weather here and it's been cool. I still have a few that are alive but the largest is only about 3" long.
Dee

Hi Dee, are you talking about the Curley Locks. Started seeds November 2014, bloomed last month. Take a look at the pic posted April 16th in the "2016 blooms" thread. There is a pic of my plants.
Today they are still blooming. Not happy with the branches though, they have pickup some sort of black bacteria on the leaves, which affects my other night bloomers also. Edges of leaves turn black. There is very little new growth. I will probably try and take a few cuttings of healthy branches and see what happens.
heres another pic taken back in March

I think I'm going to try seeds again. I hand pollinated a Grand Prize with Vern Pettinger a couple of weeks ago and looks like I have a fruit forming. This week I pollinated Grand Prize with a NOID white and still waiting to see if it happens. Have to wait months for the fruit to ripen and then years for a bloom.
We shall see.

G'day Rob--you said " Not happy with the branches though, they have picked up some sort of black bacteria on the leaves, which affects my other night bloomers also. Edges of leaves turn black. There is very little new growth. I will probably try and take a few cuttings of healthy branches and see what happens.
Sorry to hear that.Could you post a picture of those plants showing the black bacteria on the leaves please.Did you spray them? and what with and what was the result please? (I'm eager for info on culture)

I have a leaf problem on one of my new growths on a cutting.It has been sprayed with mancozeb at the time of repotting (2 weeks ago).What do you or anyone else believe the problem may be?
Thanks

Hi Paul,

Its Mike, not Rob. But that's OK.

Here's a couple of photos of the problem I am having. I will have to go look for the name of fungicide I was given to treat. So far though it has not done the trick for this particular problem. Some Strictum plants suffer worse than others. Young plants seem susceptible. Edges of branches turn black like they are burn't. Its only Curly locks and Strictum and another similar to Curly Locks that have the problem. All the day blooms seem unaffected.

I also have some problems with the sample you show in your photo and also a fungus or bacteria that turned the branches mushy. That did respond to the spray so I will make an effort to get the name. When I did the treatment last year I sprayed the whole greenhouse not just spot treat one or two plants. I removed any branches that had severe infestation like the one you show. The problem seemed to spread real fast when the plants were at their weakest just after blooming around Oct or Nov. After treatment the infection stopped spreading and the infected part of the branch dried out.

As you see from the photos of the greenhouse things did improve when new growth started to get serious earlier in the year. Just hoping I don't suffer the same issues after this blooming season

G'day Mike, sorry about getting your name wrong, just another senior moment, starting to happen a bit too often though.

I guess with the high humidity you have, fungus problems will happen more often than in a lower humid area.I just sprayed mine again with mancozeb, next week I'll try Kocide followed up with Rovral.
Mine are also in the patio area , so may not get enough air movement, though it is pretty ''fresh '' out there.At the moment as they are cuttings just sending out their first growths, I don't want to risk putting them in the shed, as there are cats galore that would destroy them all too easily.
Hopefully, someone will know the name of the correct fungicide to treat this ailment.

@vanozzi - aloha Paul, my fungicide is Dithane 75DF.