How lean can Dendrobiam Kingianum be grown?

[Gazpacho]

I just received a small white flowering version in the mail and I don't have a mount for it yet, so I wrapped a bit of moss around the roots and strapped it to a bracket. I kind of like it like that. Will it survive and flower capriciously if I water it or must it be provided with a wooden mount?

Edit* I have a Maxillaria Juergensii under the window on a tiny little wooden mount. It was that way when I bought it... and it seems to stay alive on a very small mount... All I do is water it with a water mister.

Gaz

[Gazpacho]

[Bud]

I have my kingianum alba in a pot with medium sized media mix....but I am a windowsill grower from New York, whereas: you are in the grow zone where this plant originally came from.... so you can put it outdoors in the sun and let mother nature care for it....Dendrobium kingianum is endemic to Queensland all the way to New South Wales

Maxillaria Juergensii is endemic to Bolivia all the way to Brazil in coastal tropical wet forests....that needs moisture, warmth and bright shaded light

[cbuchman]

I've got one in a 6" pot - it's already large. At the Phila Flower Show, there is one that is enormous. I'm not sure what it is planted in or how it is planted. I'd love to be able to grow such a specimen. The one at the PFS is what inspired me to get one and see what i could do.

Mine will need a bigger pot soon - as in next growing cycle. It is a "standard" purple one. (maybe I will need to get a white and pink one too ) Any suggestions/advice on repotting and growing it into a healthy specimen plant would be much appreciated.

[Gazpacho]

Thanks Bud. Watching the broadcasts here, we can only hope for your safety and quick recovery. Mother Nature has a temper.

I have a potted version of the plant, but I think it is the species version with pretty pink flowers. It hasn't flowered yet, so I can't tell. I also have one in my garden, buried in its pot in a rock garden and sheltered by some Bromiliads. It flowers pink.

Indemic in my neighbourhood is the Sydney Rock orchid ~ Thelychiton speciosus. It has a beautiful spray of flowers. I strapped some to a tree last year with a hessian bag and it has taken hold of the bark quite extensively.

[Gazpacho]

Hi Carrie,
This picture is of a flowering size plant.



It flowers quite easily for me, outside in this shaded position. It is still in its pot, with gravel around it. The Bromilliads probably keep the humidity up... as they're filled with water, while the 13m high tree they're all sitting under keeps the ground quite dry most of the time... I couldn't grow lawn there, which prompted the garden, so it isn't ever, by any means, considered soggy. It's also well protected down under there as evidenced by the Terrantula leg fern growing so well next to it.

As far as I know, they really do not seem to grow big... I think they're miniature plants.... they do grow into a clump though... and the clump can get as big as you want to grow it. I have it in flowering size in a 4 inch pot inside, as a specimen plant. I bought it as a species plant, so I think it's also pink, but I haven't managed to flower it yet to be sure.

[cbuchman]

I will post pictures of the flowers when it blooms later this winter. They are small and purple with "freckles" It has bloomed reliable every year I've had it. The plant is in an 8 inch pot and is about 18 inches tall.


I wish I had a picture of the specimen plant at the Philadelphia Flower show. if it is displayed again this year, I will get a picture. It is amazing.

[Gazpacho]

That's a beautiful plant! I haven't seen them so "leggy" before (which means nothing as I'm new to this) but ... you have me intriqued now to see if I can find one like that.

[cbuchman]

The one I saw at the Phila Flower show was almost like a huge hanging basket. It was on a stand and the reeds had gotten long enough to flop over. It's like the reeds sprout more reeds and they stat to get long that way. Mine is doing that too.

We both have something to aspire to. I'll post when mine blooms.

[RosieC]

I grew a keiki of a primary hybrid of this loose, hanging in some Spanish moss like yours, for 6 months.

It did fine and was growing new roots. It was never my plan to leave it there long term though (I just didn't get around to potting/mounting it when it fell of the parent). I've mounted it on epiweb now which is full of air and it's doing well.

If you do grow it this way be sure to give it a lot of water every day. I poured down the moss soaking it every day.