need help with regrowing stems in dendrobium

[razzer13]

So the stems from one of my dendrobiums was cut off accidentally by my neighbour, and now only the roots and the base of every stem is left. How can I grow new stems? They have a node or two left on each stem and the roots are still pretty healthy.

[Ray]

Those “stems” are the pseudobulbs - each one is actually an individual plant, and they are connected via a rhizome to form a colony.

It is possible - likely, in fact - that there is still apical meristem in the remaining base tissue that can start the process of new plant growth. The problem is that the now-missing parts of the plant is where the phytochemical resources are generated and stored to fuel such growth, so it’s a guessing game as to whether it has enough to do so.

Fertilizer will not help much so don’t feed it, but do keep it warm, shady, humid, and keep the medium evenly moist, but not soppy. If you can find some Kelpak, I’d definitely try watering it with a 1% solution every two weeks, as it does contain a great many of those phytonutrients and might be enough to get the plant growing again.

[estación seca]

Most Dendrobiums have a strongly seasonal growth pattern. When spring arrives it should begin to grow. Depending on where you live, that could be very soon.

[rbarata]

Is it possible for you to post a photo? I am trying to see what you mean in your description and in my mind if you pot it in it probably start new growths in weeks.

As propagation, there's a method (that I never tried) that consists in cutting the pbulbs in a way that each piece has two "nodes" and put them in a "bed" of sphagnum or any other water retentive material. Basically is the same as Ray's advice but with the "bed" twist.