Dendrobium tobanese - keiki or spike?

[Grim Tuesday]

I purchased this lovely Den. Tobanese var giganteum from a local nursery about six months ago. At the time it was in bloom from what I believe was the current year's flower spike. When I got it home, about half of the leaves dropped off and I gave it an unintentional dry winter rest, watering it only about once every two weeks, and the canes got pretty desiccated. Eventually, I moved it to a warmer spot in my house, got better about watering it at least weekly and the canes visibly improved and after about two months it started a new growth! Hooray! Now here's the question:

About two weeks ago, I saw two spike-like-things coming off last year's cane. One at the very bottom, and one at the very top. Looks like I'm doing something right! Or am I? I'm trying to figure out if they are flower spikes or if they are keikis. In particular, I'm trying to figure out because I want to know if I should be continuing my care as before and let it bloom, or if the plant is protesting. If it's protesting, it is most likely because I haven't been keeping it wet like most people say in culture guides, and I would like to move it to semi-hydro if that's the case. Especially since the media is looking on the old side.

If it's happy as it is, I would not want to mess with something that's making flower spikes and seems to be enjoying what I'm giving it. And I don't want to kill it because it's the most expensive plant in my collection. But if I am to be putting it in semihydro, now certainly seems like the right time given the stage of growth of this year's cane. I think it all hinges on if the current things coming off last year's cane are flower spikes or keikis. What do you guys think? In pic #1 the growth is at the last node on the cane with leaves, in pic #2 it is two canes over from the new growth (same cane as pic #1) and kinda looks like a new growth itself but is coming from the first node on the cane.

[estación seca]

You're lucky it's alive if you let it stay dry for any length of time. In that large bark I probably would have watered it every 2-3 days.

It is making a normal growth from the base. The time to move to semihydroponics is when you just see new roots emerging from the new growth. I don't know when that will be, but it doesn't look like now is the time.

I don't know whether the top growth is a spike or a keiki. Just let it develop as it wants.

[Grim Tuesday]

Originally Posted by estación seca

You're lucky it's alive if you let it stay dry for any length of time. In that large bark I probably would have watered it every 2-3 days.

It is making a normal growth from the base. The time to move to semihydroponics is when you just see new roots emerging from the new growth. I don't know when that will be, but it doesn't look like now is the time.

I don't know whether the top growth is a spike or a keiki. Just let it develop as it wants.

Yes, I watered it about every week or every two weeks. I was following advice to let "dendrobium" dry between waterings! Totally oblivious to the distinct sections of dendrobium. I am lucky it survived!

When you say it's normal growth at the base are you thinking of the thing on the left or on the right? The left certainly looks like normal growth, the right is the one im confused about. It's hard to see in the picture but it's not coming from the base of the previous cane but from about 1/2 inch above the media, on a growth node.

As for timing the repot: I will hold off. About how large should I expect the cane to get before it will start growing new roots?

[estación seca]

OB doesn't always show the photos in the same position on the page to different viewers so I don't use right or left. The new growth at the base is your photo ending in -7131.jpg.

Dendrobiums like this - in fact, almost all Dendrobiums - make new growths from the base, near the medium. That is the growth that isn't at the top of the old stem.

The growth at the top of the stem might be a spike or a new plant. I can't tell yet. If it is a keikii I would leave it as long as possible before separating it so it grows as large as possible. This might be a year or more. Dendrobium vegetative stems with keikiis tend to last much longer than Phal. flower stems with keikiis, and the larger that keiki when you separate it, the faster it will flower.

I don't know when the growth at the base will make roots. With most Dens it wouldn't be long from now, but even if it takes months before new roots form, I wouldn't move it to S/H until new roots are forming.

[Grim Tuesday]

Here’s a better picture of what I’m thinking about. In this picture I’m looking at the second cane from the left, in the foreground. To the left is a normal new growth. Growing out of the right side of that cane is the the growth I’m curious about. Thanks for all your help by they way!

[estación seca]

Those are both normal basal growths.