Too Little, Too Late?

[Mevv]

Hi everyone, I'm new to orchid growing, only owned three little seedlings for 3 months now and am finding some difficulty with two of them and would liked to get some help.

My first and major concern is my Den. Draconis. I original bought this little frag with my other orchid Den. Chrysotoxum. The Chyrsotoxum is doing amazingly well, no complaints.

But the reason I bought the two was really for the Draconis and right away after planting it in it's pot all the leaves rotted and died. It was original two pieces when it came to me with the stem that I have now seperate from the leaves. fearing the rot would spread I removed the dead roots from the pot and found to my suprise a small white maggot/larva squirming around the base of the living stem, which had no roots what so ever. Not sure what to do I added some root hormone powder to it and placed it in a new pot of soil and have been lightly spraying it every other day. Is it even possible for this little piece to make it or is it already gone?

Second, is my Den. Christyanum. I believe I may of planted it too deeply into the soil when I first recieved it because one of it's new growths imediately turned black and died after watering and two of it's canes shriveled up and died. concerned I repotted it again slightly higher out of the soil, watered less and it appears to be doing better with one new growth that hasn't died yet. Is there anything to worry about with the dead canes still attached or will it be ok?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

First of all. Most Dendrobiums are not terrestrial plants. If you're growing them in potting soil, that's strike 1.

Strike 2 is that the Den draconis is potted in a pot that is way too large.

Strike 3 the Den draconis is too small of a plant with no new growths.

Obviously with strike 3 you're out of the ball game so to speak.

1. Un-pot all of your orchids and check to see if there are any roots left on your plants. If you have no idea what a healthy root looks like post a pic of the roots of your plant and someone will tell you.

3. Once you determine the amount of living/healthy roots there are on the plant, re-pot if there is still a substantial amount left. Or if there are less than 5, mount them onto a piece of wood.

4. If you are able to pot these plants, use orchid bark mix (small grade).

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

BTW, most orchids commonly available in the hobby are epiphytes that grow on trees (branches, twigs, exposed woody surface roots of trees, or tree trunks).

Your Dendrobiums are called Dendrobiums for a reason, (in Latin it roughly translates into "tree dweller")

[Roly0217]

Soil is a BIG NO NO !!!! That will definetely kill any of those seedlings. Good luck and like King said get the out of that soil !!!!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I wanna add, don't mistake my comment about asking what healthy orchid roots look like as a sign of sarcasm. It isn't.

For those who've never grown an orchid before, orchid roots look nothing like the roots of a tree or a daisy (I used a daisy as an example, but really orchid roots don't look like the roots to most flowering plants you would recognize).

Most beginners don't recognize what a healthy/living orchid root looks like. When I first started out, I didn't either. Not every orchid has roots that look the same.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Wow, okay, I just looked up Den. draconis. This is a section Formosae type of Dendrobium. It has a dormancy period you must observe or it will slowly pine away and you won't know why that is.

The period of dormancy is during the winter months.

If you've never grown Dendrobiums before, I highly suggest you try growing Dendrobium biggibum (aka Den. phalaenopsis) as a first run along with your Den. chrysotoxum. Another nice and easy one is Den. thyrsiflorum.

[Mevv]

Thanks everyone for the help.

I do had some problems with this soil. I went to my local store where they sold this soil to me. I believe it was a bag of miracle gro potting soil said to be specifically for orchid. when I opened the bag what I found was what looked to be way too fine of particles.

I say this cause even though I'm new at this orchid growing I did read many webpages about caring for them and it just seemed odd, but since I bought it I thought I'd least try it.

When I removed the Draconis from the soil after half of it had rotted away I did take note of the roots which the outer coating easily came apart from the vein-like inside which I read is a sign of rot, when I did the same to the Christyanum it did not happen so I believe it is fine along with the chrysotoxum which has had no problems what soever, however I heard that orchid is more withstanding than other Dendrobiums.

I was pretty sure the draconis was a goner too cause it was just so small but needed to be sure, it's a shame cause I loved it's flower .

I'm still not sure if the christyanum will be alright, having it for three months it's lost so much and only the last week started to show signs of growing. lol or it could simply be me, the novelty of owning an orchid hasn't gone away yet and seeing them grow is like watching water boil.

[orchidbingo]

Hi Mevv and welcome to OB.

That Miracle Grow Orchid mix is nasty stuff. It works well for growing African Violets and tomatoes. If you use it on orchids it's a miracle if they grow.

Stores like Home Depot, Lowes etc usually have Orchid Bark or Bark Mix. My Lowes carries Better Grow. I usually sort through each bag by hand when I open it. I save the really big chunks of bark and charcoal for my bigger chids.
The rest is pretty good for all my other chids. I even potted my tiny baby catts in this mix, staight out of compots, and they've all developed great roots. I had to water the small seedlings more frequently until they established but the water didn't sit around rotting the new roots.

They also sell Phal mix which had sphagnum shreds adde,d but I think much of that washes out when you pre-soak the mix before using it for potting.

I've never really grown dendros well in pots. You might think of starting over with some more forgiving orchids like a phal or catt. Just make sure not to use that Miracle (if it) Gro(ws).



Good luck.

bingo

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

To my knowledge I believe the only terrestrial Dendrobium I'm aware of is Den lancifolium, and I don't know to what degree to which it grows as a terrestrial (top soil or potting soil - ? - don't know). This is an extremely rare plant in cultivation so not much reliable or valid info is available.

Most Dendrobiums grow on trees. Some are lithophytes (grows on rocks). Some can be both, it all depends on the species.

From what I gather, Den. draconis, Den. chrysotoxum, and Den christyanum are epiphytes that grow on trees.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Nevermind, Den. lancifolium isn't a true terrestrial. I just looked it up.

The plant grows on rocks with some leaf litter and tiny bit of top soil. More of a lithophyte than a true terrestrial.