Dendrobium Phenomanon: Is this normal?

[susiep]

Hello! I am a new member from Florida, too. Orchids are very easy to grow here. If you keep them outside, just water them if it doesn't rain for a few days (which is rare, except in winter) and bring them in or cover them if it goes below 54. They are very hard to kill, except when you over-care for them. I only fertilize 3-4 times a year and only spray for bugs when I actually see them. Rain water is best, too much chlorine in the water here. I have about 60 plants and about 20 are blooming now. I bring them in when they are blooming so everyone can enjoy them. The minimal approach has worked very well for me. Just relax and let them go!

[CodiMN]

Lucky! I think my little 'chids wouldn't forgive me. But then again...I live in the frozen tundra! :

[Soonix]

I'm new to the OB and to the orchid scene too and I noticed that the orchids, I have some Phal, Den, Cym and some NOIDS all enjoy the misting at least once a week or whenever they look dry and dusty. I water 1x a week or so. And after a year of daily inspections for really no good reason , i find them a lot happier when they are not constantly disrupted. Kinda feed me, look at me and leave me alone

Tai

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials

[alorindanya]

Originally Posted by cb977

Let's keep things civil here...

Yes, the point is that it hasn't died yet, and that is fascinating to me. I want to see how long I can keep it alive while it is unattached to anything.

[Royal]

Hey susiep, What is the min temp in the winter where you are? Can you leave them outside all winter? In east TX, in zone 8, the temp is all over the place. Yesterday's low was 33. Today's low - 61. I do a little shuffle every late winter: in, out, in, out. I know they like it better outside. Just a few warm days after being couped up all winter will get them to put on new roots, even if they have to go back inside for a week or two.

Maybe this just shows how poorly I care for them while inside.

[susiep]

I live near Ft Lauderdale and it rarely drops below 40 here. We could have 4-5 cold nights per year when I have to move the orchids inside. They seem to be ok to about 50, but I have heard 54 is a safe temp. Last month we had some cold air with a wind chill (unusual for here) and it did some damage to the plants I was too lazy to move. I have about 60 orchids now, so I built a little orchid house out of wood arbors from Home Depot lined with the heavy solar screen on the inside. It is great! Last week we had a cold night so I just wrapped the orchid house in those thin plastic drop cloths and covered the top with a blue tarp. Worked great and it was easy to take off the next morning. Just to be safe I took all the orchids with bloom spikes inside. But that meant I didn't have to move 40 of them!

[alorindanya]

Well, here we are, 22 days after my first post and the leaf is still green.

[susiep]

Wow, awesome. This is my idea about the leaf. The leaf of the orchid plant can store food (carbs, sugars) for later use and actually make food (photosynthesis) but the cells it is made up of cannot reproduce more plants (form roots or keikis). So it will continue to live off its own food source, slowly depleting it until it uses it up and dies. You have slowed the process by misting it. Plants can absorb some water through their leaves, but not as much as roots. Interesting experiment, though.

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials

[alorindanya]

My leaf has succumbed to death. , but it took it early 2 months to die.

[Jbyron]

Just from the pictures, it looks like the leaf is not drying out because it, like the bark it is resting on, is getting too much water.

My Dens like to be dry between watering. If I am too nice to them and apply water too often, they drop leaves or just end up dead because the roots rot.

Some of my best bloomers and the ones I've learned to ignore between their weekly watering.

Hope that helps.
Jim