help me save this dendrobium nobile - Page 3 - Orchid Board

djuna · #21 03-18-2013, 07:56 AM

thank you, Cheryl and NYCorchidman.

there is nothing as yet to indicate the coming of new shoots.

the rootball is quite small so i used a 4-inch clay pot, put some larger chunks at the bottom for drainage, fingertip-sized barks on the sides and on top of the moss-wrapped rootball. to me this is the stage where i am most nervous about its well-being because from this point on i cannot really take a gentle peek at how the plant is doing.

the darkening of the older canes is another worry but i suppose it is out of my hands now.

i soaked the bark in rainwater overnight so i will probably not need to water for a time. one thing i am unsure of though is in watering once the medium has dried.

should i only water enough to wet the top?
can i already use fertilizer?

LiisuTriinu · #22 03-27-2013, 08:22 PM

Hey, I just wanted to wish you a pile of good luck!
I took home a Den. nobile around the begining of this February. Got mine form a flowershop's "1 € sales corner" and she wasn't at her best. She had her last bloom and a tiny new spike forming (a reason, why I took her). Anyway she was overwatered, roots were rotting (no green tips), leaves getting yellow etc I had to cut off about half of the roots. I repotted her at least three times within a week (the mix just didn't feel right, still doesn't, but I haven't found anything better either), sunburned few roots soon after repoting and I was pretty sure that her life was now over. But she "payed me back" by surviving. She now lives on a western window, in a 12 cm clear plastic pot and she just thrives. I use Substral/Scotts products for fertilizing and the substrate also. Mist her daily, water and fertilize about weekly, plan to summer her outside until late September or maybe even October, then give her a cool, dry rest and hope to see flowers (or keikis

) next year.

mattryan · #23 03-27-2013, 08:40 PM

I would water sparingly, but you can mist if you are worried it's not getting enough water. I would not fertilize yet as everything that I've heard says not to fertilize a sick plant. Once you start seeing new growth absolutely fertilize. You should start to see new growth anytime now. Goodluck!

Cheryl

djuna · #24 03-28-2013, 11:40 AM

Thank you for the well wishes, LiisuTriinu. Your story certainly gives me a lot of encouragement. At this time, i am desperately fighting the desire to sneak a peek at the roots but i know i really shouldn't!

Cherly, thanks again! There is definitely no sign of bulges at the bottom of the older 2 canes as of this morning. My watering routine has been quite abundant misting nearly every other day since the plant is on the south window but shaded by the window frame. It gets quite warm with the pot itself, bark and moss on the top looking quite dried out. And so it has been quite a worry for me, having nursed this plant all through winter and now just not having any (visual) means to see how it is faring.

Not having received any word from here for some time about fertilizing, i opted not to fertilize until some growth appears. Glad i did. =)

LiisuTriinu · #25 03-29-2013, 05:39 AM

Well as far as I know Den.s originate from the same area as Coelogyne cristatas, so I use the similar care for them. And my Den. just loves daily misting.

Dendy83 · #26 04-18-2013, 09:33 PM

But I am so thankful for the search feature of these forums. I have a Dend. Nobile and it has been looking so very sad every since I got it. The blooms fell off just a week after bringing it home. So after taking the advice of everyone here I will repot in a smaller container and just be diligent.

Anyways, thanks everyone who contributed, I got alot of info from this.

NYCorchidman · #27 04-18-2013, 10:27 PM

Yeah, it is best to not to respond to your urge to peek at the root inside the pot because doing so may well damage the developing root tip and that is not very good.

Fertilizing is not necessary because there is no activity other than staying alive which can be sustained by what's reserved inside the canes.
Watering can also be careful until you see any signs of new growth. Misting is fine but just back of the leaves to be safe. and maybe top of the mix. Sometimes the top of the mix may appear quite dry but it can be still quite moist inside the pot.
Unless there are roots on or near the top of mix, you don't have to mist often.
Bone dry is not recemmended, but staying wet can kill the roots in no time when they are not actively growing.

The plant will (and should by this time) send up new growth unless the dormant eyes are rotten which happen sometimes.
If so, they will still sprount a litt further up from the base or some keikis in an effort to regenerate themselves.

Keep it from bone dry, give good strong light and warmth and the plant should sprout somewhere on the canes.

wish you luck!

RJSquirrel · #28 04-18-2013, 10:39 PM

Ive seen people take these out of the pots and hang them upside down bare rooted to dry the roots out and stimulate growth as they tell me. This also sends the water in the root to the cane and leaf which are water starved... I might have to try that one of these days just to see if it works.

Ill have to kill a dendrobium 1st

NYCorchidman · #29 04-18-2013, 11:15 PM

I'm sorry, but that is one of those many things that are spread around with no sound proofs.
It actually is not true in this specific case.

Hanging plants upside down does NOT send (or aid in sending) water to the "water starved" portion of the plants.

What moves the water within a plant is basically the transpiration of water itself. As water leaves a plant through the leaves, more water molecules are taken up to replace what's lost because water molecules want to stick together.

This happens whether plants are upside down or standing up straight as good majority are in most settings.

Also, cane is usually filled with enough water unless it is severly wrinkled up. Leaves are where water leaves out of the plant and also filled with water. When there is not enough water, leaves will wilt or dry up and drop in severe case.
With no or not enough water (say, less water taken up via roots than what is lost via leaves) is taken up through the roots, a plant will eventually dry out.
So keeping plants well watered is the key not haning them upside down.
It is not like you are hanging a bag half filled with liquid upside down. Different mechanism is at work.

This is not my opinion but rather a simple biological fact.

So plants (whether orchids or other plants) that are droopy due to excessive water loss benefit from good watering.
Plants with poor roots will not benefit much from watering as poor roots can only take so much if any.
That is why orchid growers are so concerned about healthy roots. water uptake, fertilizer uptake, all these happen through the roots.

Djuna- Please do not take your plant out of the pot. It is only going to further disturb and stress the plant that is already in poor condition. Hanging it upside down won't do a thing. Only if there are enough roots to uptake water, which will then be pulled up through the entire plant, the plant will be "hydrated".

Dendy83 · #30 04-18-2013, 11:28 PM

I plan on giving him direct sunlight in the morning, which wanes around 9:30 or so. Now, the reason i was searching the forum was because I was having some difficulty finding a photo of healthy dendro roots. I have found tons and tons of healthy phal roots, but I just wanted to compare mine against healthy dendro roots or even rotted ones. I already repotted as I didn't want to keep him out of the pot for too long and trimmed roots that were obviously mushy and rotted (which wasn't very many thankfully).

Thanks again. And don't you worry, I won't even try that hanging upside down thing.