Trouble getting kinganium to bloom...

[greenpassion]

Hi all. I have in my collection a number of Den. Kinganiums. One is the mother plant, and the rest are all potted up keikes from her. The mother has lots of canes, and tons of keikes, and has only put out one spike last winter. It seems all it ever does is throw keikes. So now, the mother again has one little spike happening, and 2 of the potted keikes each have one spike. These potted keikes have 4 to 7 canes in each pot. I have them all on a south facing window sill, which gets tons of sun, and I've not fed them since fall. No ferts all winter, and I've held off watering as frequently, as I heard that these orchids need a dry winter rest. What am I doing wrong here? Of all the canes here, (I'm talking 25 or so) I only have 3 tiny spikes, and to make matters worse, on each of these little spikes, there are only 3 buds! I don't use the skewer method when watering them. Am I not watering enough or too much? They are all in a medium to small bark mix, and I use my own well water, again, no fertilizer. I really thought that when I moved them from an east window to a south window, I'd have a really nice display, and they are sooo fragrant....

[estación seca]

Several problems.

They don't need a dry winter rest to flower.

They seem to need a very cool winter rest coupled with higher light than they get in summer. People who know next to nothing about gardening grow them outdoors in southern California and they bloom every spring.

Overfertilizing might be responsible. Try not fertilizing for a year and see what happens.

It's hard to tell whether they most need to be very cool or very bright in winter.

Some people have written even 60F / 15.5C at night might not be low enough. If they're cool enough you can water them all winter and they still flower.

Some clones make keikiis like crazy and don't bloom much. This is a recognized problem. Gardeners who can't bear to throw anything away keep giving the keikiis away, and gardeners who can't turn down anything cheap or free keep propagating them. There turns out to be a lot of overlap between plant hoarders and cheapskates, so inferior but rapidly-propagating clones of everything tend spread in cultivation.

What to do?
1. Can you give the plant a room in the low 60s, and also very high light? If not, maybe this isn't the best choice for your limited space.

2. If you think you can provide proper winter conditions, throw all of these away and buy a better plant. Please don't inflict them on other eventually-to-be-frustrated orchid growers. Maybe keep the largest one, try hard for one year to see whether you can get it to flower, and then throw it away.

Fred Clarke at Sunset Valley Orchids sells many Australian ancestry Dendrobiums. From time to time he sells Den. kingianums he says are easier to flower. They aren't on his Web site now.

But he does sell other hybrids that are much easier to flower in typical northern climates. So consider looking at those. Many of them are flowering size in 2" / 5cm pots. He will often indicate this in descriptions.

[greenpassion]

Thank you so much E.S.

[SaraJean]

I know next to nothing about growing these. I have, however achieved Expert Level at killing them, lol
The only thing I can offer is from some emails back and forth with Fred Clarke (I purchased a Den. kingianum division from him), he said that they really need 4 weeks of nighttime temps at or below 55F to flower

[Leafmite]

I grew some of these for a while and managed to get a few blooms on one. Someone told me they needed colder temperatures but...apparently not as the colder temperatures killed them. I have not tried these since. I have read that there are some that have been bred to bloom better with less effort but I have not been able to find those varieties. The hybrids sound interesting.

[greenpassion]

I think I'm going to go with E.S.'s advise and "put them to sleep"-but I will keep one to try again for a bit. Now I'll have to find some kind of orchid ( not phals!! I have 28 of them!!) to grow in that space....a southern window, temps around 65 at night in winter. I love dendrobuims but I would need ones that stay small. Oh yes, and of course, bloom for me😊

[fishmom]

I have a couple of kingianum hybrids and they indeed are easy bloomers. I keep them outside until night temps are below 50 degrees, then inside or outside/inside-the-garage-on-colder-nights. They get dry between waterings, but not for long periods of time. This is Den. Aussie Parade 'Carrot Splash' x Den. Janine Banks 'SVO' HCC/AOS. It has Den. tetragonum in the background, which I am told accounts for the colors.

[greenpassion]

Originally Posted by fishmom

I have a couple of kingianum hybrids and they indeed are easy bloomers. I keep them outside until night temps are below 50 degrees, then inside or outside/inside-the-garage-on-colder-nights. They get dry between waterings, but not for long periods of time.

Could this variety be grown indoors Year round? You carry them to the garage each night in winter?

[fishmom]

I only have a few orchids outside, and I grab them and put them in the (detached) garage when I go out to lock up. I do that if the predicted temp is less than 40 degrees, which sometimes means frost in my back yard. If you have a cold spot in the house, it might do the same thing. Mud room? Utility room?

[greenpassion]

Originally Posted by fishmom

I only have a few orchids outside, and I grab them and put them in the (detached) garage when I go out to lock up. I do that if the predicted temp is less than 40 degrees, which sometimes means frost in my back yard. If you have a cold spot in the house, it might do the same thing. Mud room? Utility room?

Yes I do. A basement and there's also an unheated mud room. Do you give away keikes?☺