D. kingianum evaluation, and advice?

[Clawhammer]

Originally Posted by Fairorchids

Almost identical, except for the full sunlight. The 'Aussie' Dendrobiums have very leathery leaves, which can handle full sun.

Den. nobile has more tender foliage. It can be hardened in 2 steps, first a week in medium shade and then a week in very light shade, then into full sun. I did it one year, but decided that it is too much work, so now they stay inside. If I had a spare shade table outside, I might bring them outside in the future.

---------- Post added at 08:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:48 AM ----------



The light at 7300' might be an issue, but if you harden them for 7-10 days in light shade, I think that it will be OK.

The temperature swings are not a problem. Both kingianum & speciosum grow in areas, where they can see light frost in the winter, and temperatures up to 110-120F in summer.

Thanks FairOrchids! Looks like I have a few plants to move from my grow room to my backyard. Any other dens (or other species) you treat this way?

Now I just have to figure out how to provide bright light (while providing cool temps) during the winter months here in Portland, my constant struggle... I can't grow anything without supplemental light and a greenhouse is almost useless for orchids here, so I grow 100% inside. Not giving up but maybe these aren't going to work in my conditions.

[estación seca]

For outdoors in CO, get a piece of 50% shade cloth and put the orchids under it.

Orchids requiring a cool, bright winter are indeed problematic in a typical cold-winter climate. If you can partially or fully shut the vents to the room where you have your light setup, you may be able to keep one room cool enough for them. Many cacti also flower better with a very cool and bright winter. When I lived in St Louis, in winter I put all the cacti on a table in a small room with the vent shut and thick drapes over the window for insulation. I used a timer to turn on the standard fluorescent lights at night so the heat would help keep the room above freezing, and so I could see them when I was home from work. They flowered extremely well.

[Clawhammer]

Originally Posted by estación seca

For outdoors in CO, get a piece of 50% shade cloth and put the orchids under it.

Orchids requiring a cool, bright winter are indeed problematic in a typical cold-winter climate. If you can partially or fully shut the vents to the room where you have your light setup, you may be able to keep one room cool enough for them. Many cacti also flower better with a very cool and bright winter. When I lived in St Louis, in winter I put all the cacti on a table in a small room with the vent shut and thick drapes over the window for insulation. I used a timer to turn on the standard fluorescent lights at night so the heat would help keep the room above freezing, and so I could see them when I was home from work. They flowered extremely well.

Always helpful, thank you sir. Unfortunately my grow room has about 300 orchids including a number of warm to hot plants. My room low temp in winter is 63.

I am going to put them outside now and worry about the winter later, but worst case scenario is I can get a grow tent and run artificial lighting to the tent so I can achieve cool temps and bright light.

Any other dens or other orchid types that would benefit from this setup? I have 3 cymbidiums I think I will treat the same way

[hypostatic]

Thanks for the input Kim! I've been growing these since ~2013, and haven't been able to re-bloom them since they were purchased.

[estación seca]

Almost all the nobile, farmeri/chrysotoxum and aggregatum type Dens need cool, bright winters to flower. Early stopping of fertilizer, as Kim mentioned, is also very important to them. Search through Orchid Board on these names and you will see how many people have this problem. People try to keep them very dry to compensate for inability to keep them cool, but that's not adequate. Many species of this type of Dendrobium get a lot of dew in winter in habitat, even if it doesn't rain.

Others that come to mind off the top of my head that bloom better with cool bright winters are some species of Brassavola, Cattleya, Chysis, Neofinetia, as well as Rhyncholaelia (Brassavola) digbyana- though the last also blooms well with a warm to hot and very bright winter.