Dendrobium Stardust 'Chiomi' Care

[aliceinwl]

I recently bought a small Dendrobium Stardust 'Chiomi'. The seller said it could go down to freezing so I’m planning on keeping it outside with my Dendrobium nobile types.

What is the best substrate for this guy? It’s currently in packed sphagnum in a plastic sleeve type pot. Would a bark mix be better? How much (if any) sun can this tolerate? How wet should I keep it?

In terms of reblooming, I found an old thread where the user rebloomed theirs by giving it a cool winter, stopping fertilizer in August, and keeping it watered. Is this the way to go?

Side note:

Kind of a surprise, I let my Dendrobium nobiles get watered by rain all winter, lots of cold, no buds. The keiki I separated and grew inside for over a year, I watered weekly, fertilized through the winter, household temperatures, blooming like crazy (I thought it was too small to flower so didn’t try). I’m not sure what I’ll do with the outdoor Den. nobiles next winter.

Thanks!

[Cheoah]

Hi Alice, how is your Stardust doing? I recently acquired one from a local grower/breeder, it was potted in sphagnum in a small net pot. I potted it in sphagnum in a small terracotta pot for now.

Sphagnum seems to work well for me in clay pots, speeding the drying. But I just rescued some Blc. Seedlings that were in sphag in aircone pots. They had tiny new growths coming on, but under the surface, another story.

At the same time, I repotted my young dendrobium into classic sized bark — with chopped sphag — back in their 2” aircones. I think that going straight from moss to bark can be problematic, so I just wet some moss and chopped w scissors. If you switch to bark, consider adding a little chopped moss as a transition. Esp if you’re lower humidity....

I’m making it a policy to have a look at roots in sphagnum when I buy a new plant, as soon as practical.

cheers

[aliceinwl]

I haven't done anything to mine yet. I've got it outside on a porch with a northern exposure and no direct sun right now. It's had some lows in the mid 40s so far, but seems fine.

I've been trying to keep the moss damp, but not wet. Its canes are staying plump and its in full bloom, so I haven't been in a rush to disturb it. It has a few keikis coming, so I'm thinking that I might leave the parent plant as is (as long as I don't see signs of deterioration) and separate a keiki once its done blooming. Then, I can use the keiki as my guinea pig.