Dendrobium Lost All Leaves / Keiki

[zomorph]

I have a dendrobium which I have had for over a year now. It has never flowered since I got it and always seemed very healthy.

It grew a new cane last year, but no flowers. This summer it started to grow two new canes but before they were were even two inches they turned brown and died off.

Shortly after it started growing keikis all over the remaining 4-5 canes. There are about 9 keiki's growing at various places all over.

Finally in the past two weeks all of the leave of the main plant have fallen off.

Here is a picture, though not too good of it before it lost its leaves.

Any idea of what might be happening? Is the main plant going to continue to die off now that it lost its leaves?

[howze01]

Maybe it's a deciduous one?

[tarev]

Your dens still looks okay, though a little thirsty I think. My Dens at this time of the year, likes being watered a lot, since I have them in my grow camp outdoors, plus it is very dry and quite hotter here too.

What is your watering frequency like, and temps?

[zomorph]

Originally Posted by tarev

Your dens still looks okay, though a little thirsty I think. My Dens at this time of the year, likes being watered a lot, since I have them in my grow camp outdoors, plus it is very dry and quite hotter here too.

What is your watering frequency like, and temps?

Well that photo is before it lost its leaves. The stalks look the same though. And the Keiki's are growing like crazy, at least I think so. If I don't look at them for a day I can see a difference in size.

I water them every few days it seems like. I check to see if the bark is dry adn if it is then I run them under water.

[ilikeorchids]

What dendrobium is it? Maybe it's a deciduous one or the mother plant is just dying.

[zomorph]

I don't know what type it is. I got it from a nursery after it had lost all it's flowers and it didn't have a tag. If it is supposed to loose its leaves how often would that happen?

[WhiteRabbit]

Have you checked the roots?

[zomorph]

Yeah I pulled it out roots look ok. Some.roots looked old but overall they looked ok. I have had it for over a year and it has never lost a leaf and within a week all the leaves turned yellow and fell off at the same time that it was growing keikis. It has been a over a week some the last leaf fell off and it still overall looks good. I had never known that there were deciduous dendrobiums. Maybe that it all that is going on.

[silken]

It could be a nobile Den. These need a cool and fairly dry rest in the winter to stimulate blooms in the late winter and spring. They are deciduous and lose their leaves often after they have flowered. If they are not given the cool dry rest and too much nitrogen they will grow keikis instead of flowers. There are many hybrids and crosses with nobile type so until you see a flower it will be hard to know for sure. If you haven't done that, you could try it. You can Google the culture for them. Basically you stop feeding near the end of Aug. and only water enough to keep them from shrivelling from fall until you see signs of flower buds in the spring. And good light but quite cool temps all winter.

[czayta]

Originally Posted by silken

It could be a nobile Den. These need a cool and fairly dry rest in the winter to stimulate blooms in the late winter and spring. They are deciduous and lose their leaves often after they have flowered. If they are not given the cool dry rest and too much nitrogen they will grow keikis instead of flowers. There are many hybrids and crosses with nobile type so until you see a flower it will be hard to know for sure. If you haven't done that, you could try it. You can Google the culture for them. Basically you stop feeding near the end of Aug. and only water enough to keep them from shrivelling from fall until you see signs of flower buds in the spring. And good light but quite cool temps all winter.

This is exactly what I was going to recommend. If you are only greeted with Keiki's the following spring, it is a sign that this plant probably needs a cool/dry winters rest. I have Dendrobium nobile and when I got it, they told me you could leave it outside until 35-40 degrees if you dare (as long as it is completely dry when it is that cold). The cold dry period will help induce blooms the following spring instead of keikis.