Dendrobium Nobile Question.

[Joeturbo26]

Hello folks!

So almost 6 months into my New Years resolution of learning to successfully grow orchids and learn as much as I can about their culture... It's going well! I've had a lot of successes and learnings.

So far, the most challenging and perplexing has been the Dendrobiums. I've failed at all except the kingianum and I'm having some success with the Nobile type.

I have two, they're doing ok, one was a keiki with all the roots lost and its putting up a beautiful new growth.

The other I purchased in bud, all of them bloomed and faded as usual following the leaf drop. It has begun to put up two beautiful new growths and one cane that didn't flower is now deciding it wants to flower too, so it put out 9 buds and decided to drop its last two leaves.

Here is my silly question, and I simply can't find such a basic answer anywhere!

I know they're deciduous and virtually all the activity happens on the new growth moving forward—but do the old canes eventually grow new leaves? I know I'm not to expect old canes to flower again, although sometimes they may....I'm wondering if I will have a plant with 8 leafless canes and two beautiful new ones.... LOL

Thank you in advance for your expertise!

Oh and here is a pic of the the new growth on the keiki I saved! I am particularly proud of this success!

Joey

[euplusia]

No, Joey, old canes will not produce new leaves. But eventually they will bloom repeatedly for 3-4 years.

[ollypolly]

Your Nobile seems to be doing different things to mine. It dropped all it's flowers then a few leaves and now it's budding again (on the old canes) as well as sending up another new cane. Despite sharing a family name I've found my dends are quite different from one another. My Crumbiatum repeatedly flowers from it's old canes while I have a no-id one currently in flower which sends up one cane which flowers then drops it's leaves before growing a new cane leaving the old one bare. I find it best just to watch what the plant does and learn from that.

[NYCorchidman]

If you do well with den. kingianum, then nobile is basically the same thing.
They both grow during the hot wet summer.
Then they need cold winter to set buds and flower in the spring.