Singapore orchid i sent to my friend in Oz

[RosieC]

Looks to me like a Den phal type, with maybe some of the antelope type mixed in. Something in the two petals makes me think that, also the waxiness of the leaves and canes matches the one of mine I suspect as having antelope somewhere in the mix and my other Den phals do not have that.

My Den Phals like this I keep in quite bright light. I water them like phals, slightly wetter sometimes but only slightly. My one that I suspect has some antelope type in the mix goes red on the canes in bright light more easily than those which look more Den Phal in flower shape. But I don't have enough to determine if that is due to the antelope parantage or not, could be anything else in the parantage

They can spike again from old canes, but can't flower from old spikes. Higher light levels seem to prompt spiking. In the UK I put them outside in the sun for a couple of hours each day in the afternoon (not all day). Always adapt them slowly to higher light though getting a bit stronger every day. In Oz I'm not sure what light levels are like but could be brighter than here so your friend needs to be careful.

Mine actually spiked in the autum this year and flowered in the winter, I would guess this one is more likely to flower later in the summer.

[en3rmax]

Thanku very much for all the info RosieC, In Darwin where she lives it's really hot and humid, just looked at the weather forecast for Darwin today and it's heavy rain showers 28 degrees and 84% humidity.

I read up that they need bright indirect sunlight.

I've sent her this care guide to help Ivens Orchids Dendrobium Culture Page

I told her to follow the Dendrobium Phalaenopsis
guide as the florist said it was a singapore orchid.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

The Dendrobium phalaenopsis hybrid may have been purchased from Singapore, but the actual species and variants or subspecies or whatever the parents are (there's a lot of confusing taxonomy regarding Dendrobiums in the section Phalaenanthe), originate from Australia.

[en3rmax]

thanku again King_of_orchid_growing, it's quite an interesting subject finding out about dendrobiums as i've only ever had phalaenopsis, maybe it's time to buy a dendrobium for myself.

Is the link in the above section i posted from ivens orchids a good care guide for my friend to follow?

Is it best to cut the old spike off her plant now?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

The brief info on Iven's page is pretty simple, but it's enough to go on.

However, I will add that it can take it down lower on the lower end of the temperature range. I think it can handle it down to 13 C (55 F).

If you feel you'd like to try growing Dendrobiums, go ahead, there are plenty of easy ones to start with.

Here are a few:

All the Dendrobiums in the section Phalaenanthe (it's confusing to name the individual species or variants or whatever, you get it - just type in Dendrobium phalaenopsis or Dendrobium compactum or Den biggibum or whatever they're called now)

Dendrobium kingianum
Dendrobium loddigessii
Dendrobium unicum

[RosieC]

Dens are a good orchid to grow, it's what I tried first when I decided to venture further than Phalaenopsis. Den Phals and similar ones are quite easy in my view if you can grow Phals. Similar care but a bit more light seems to work well for me.