D. tetragonum seedling first bloom

[StephaneL]

The Dendrobium tetragonum seedling I recently got from Santa Barbara Orchid Estate just bloomed. It is even smaller that I thought it would be, but very cute.



It is also pushing a new growth. Do any of you grow one of those. Do you know when they produce new roots?

[Louis_W]

Cool! I remember reading about when they discovered those!

I'm sure the more mature blooms will be larger. Aren't they supposed to be like 6" flowers?

[DeaC]

Bought mine bare root ~2yrs ago. Put in a slotted basket to hang containing med. bark and a bit of s/m. For me it's a fall/winter bloomer but had blooms early spring as well. Putting out new roots now. I like a pendant growth habit so that's why I did a basket. These don't want to dry out and it's hanging under a growlight. Pb's are that unusual triangular shape and blooms smell "earthy". It's a keeper!

[Roberta]

Mine has been happily growing on a mount on my patio for about 8 years. It blooms at odd times through the year, I don't always record it. Blooms repeatedly on the same growths. Maybe if it got more moisture the plant would be bigger, but it seems healthy... not sure when the new roots emerge, will have to observe it. I remounted it because the Andy mount had a big lump of moss and the roots were growing into the moss instead of the mount. Now, they have "expanded" to the mount.

[claypot]

Mine hangs downwards from its mount which is covered in roots so difficult to tell when new roots start. They grow pendulously - I have never seen one potted like your image.

[StephaneL]

Thank you all!

I'm not sure the flowers will ever reach 6 inches; 2 inches seem to be a more common size according to my readings. In any case, it's got a long way to go as the single flower I got this time is not even an inch large.

It is still in the pot it was when I received it from SBOE. I've considered transferring it to a mount, but I am a windowsill grower and having a mount dripping inside my apartment does not seem like a good idea. I will therefore probably repot it in a pot.

I'll continue checking for signs of new roots to determine the optimal moment to repot, which is not easy on such a small plant...

[Roberta]

There are some varieties that are larger (and line-breeding may produce monster flowers) , mine tend to be about 3 inches. But I'm something of a species purist... in many species, species get line-bred to the point where a pollinator would not recognize them. To me, those might as well be hybrids.