Nobile orchid- no idea what I'm doing

[Crazycatlady]

Hi, sorry for such a basic query! I have tried to google the answer to this but I'm struggling to find a resource that doesn't assume I'm a pro orchid grower!

I bought a nobile from ikea (of all places!) a few months ago, it's white with pink tinges on the flowers. I repotted it when I got home with some stones at the base and then multipurpose compost. It has done really well and then a week of so ago all the flowers dried up and dropped off and the leaves have started to yellow. I understand this is part of the lifecycle. There is also a new shoot at the bottom of one of the stems.

My question is what am I supposed to do with it now? Do I need to cut/trim anything, or re-pot? Will the old stems flower again next year? I have no idea where to start...

Thank you for any guidance!

[Salixx]

By multipurpose compost, do you mean regular potting soil?

If so, it needs to be repotted into orchid friendly media. Nobile dendrobiums are epiphytes, meaning they grow on trees and their roots need access to good air movement. In potting soil, it is too compacted, keeps too much moisture around the roots without any good air and ends up killing them.

Everybody has their own preference on media mixtures, but a straight bark or bark mixed with a bit of long fiber sphagnum most will be more appropriate.

Step one is to unpot it though and see if any of the old roots are still alive.

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

Look up Yamamoto Dendrobiums. They have several pages with information on how to grow these.

Edit June 15 2020:
Yamamoto Dendrobiums in Japan hybridizes and produces a great number of these plants. Their Web site formerly had excellent growing information for hobbyists. Unfortunately it is no longer there. You can still look at the varieties they grow, and maybe see one very similar to yours.

I saved the page, and summarized it in a post in this thread:
Uncertain if Dendrobium is still alive

Yamamoto now has a page showing how to force Dendrobium nobile for Christmas flowering in Japan's climate. There is a lot to learn from that page, but it is intended for growers who can artificially heat and cool their greenhouses during off seasons. Note they use coconut husk for growing medium, which many orchidists would say retains too much water for orchids. For many orchids that is correct, but this is a very thirsty orchid.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Yes, they are plants that would normally grow on trees, not in the ground. Potting soil is not acceptable for growing orchids that grow on trees, (plants that grow on trees are called epiphytes).

I'd stick with using bark chips first. Medium grade bark chips are fine.

Do not use a pot that is too large. For the purposes of balancing out the amount of moisture the plant gets to how much air the roots receive, put it in a pot that is only as large as the root system is. Do not put it in a pot that is twice as large as the root system is, (for example).

This orchid has 2 things that you need to know about.

1) It goes dormant in the winter.
2) It goes deciduous. (It loses its leaves eventually.)

They grow in intermediate to warm temperatures (60 F - 90 F/15.6 C - 32.2 C).

Moderate relative humidity of 55% - 70% is fine. Higher humidity is not a problem either.

The light is moderately bright indirect light. Lighting should never be direct.

[Crazycatlady]

Thank you so much! I'm very glad you told me to re-pot it. As soon as I took it out of the pot there was an awful smell coming from the very bottom so I think it was starting to rot and would have died had I left it any longer!

I have rinsed the roots off and they actually look ok and reasonably healthy, am leaving them to air dry for an hour or so before I re-pot into the orchid bark mix I bought.

Once this is done what are my next steps? Obviously I have this new shoot growing out the bottom, it's about 2 Inches tall at the moment. Do I just leave everything as is until it reaches a certain height?

Thanks 🙏

[bil]

Originally Posted by Crazycatlady

Thank you so much! I'm very glad you told me to re-pot it. As soon as I took it out of the pot there was an awful smell coming from the very bottom so I think it was starting to rot and would have died had I left it any longer!

I have rinsed the roots off and they actually look ok and reasonably healthy, am leaving them to air dry for an hour or so before I re-pot into the orchid bark mix I bought.

Once this is done what are my next steps? Obviously I have this new shoot growing out the bottom, it's about 2 Inches tall at the moment. Do I just leave everything as is until it reaches a certain height?

Thanks 🙏

Just leave it alone full stop.. Mine are mostly on mounts now, but when I put the in pots, I stick them in very shallow pots, only about 3 inches deep, but nice and wide, about a foot in diameter for stability,, tho you may not have space for that luxury. I put some moss around the edge of the pot if there is a danger of it drying out, stick the plant in the centre and fill with sieved fine bark.
You can put 3 rocks around the plant to hold it steady till the roots grow, or arrange a trio of stakes.
The new shooot will send out roots into the medium. If allowed space, they will grow a big, healthy root system that will eventually give you a big, healthy plant.

[Crazycatlady]

Excellent thank you so much. Very useful advice from all

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

By the way, I think you should be aware of this too. Your plant is most likely a hybrid not a species. When you look up information on your plants, it is important to know what it is so you can track down information on it. If you have a tag with the plant's name, keep that.