Den. speciosum season! Woo hoo!

[DirtyCoconuts]

WOW...nice KG

[Keysguy]

Roberta- how long should the blooms last?
Mine look like they're staring to go by already.

[Roberta]

They really don't last very long. If the last 2 weeks that's great but sometimes they don't. If the flowers get wet, that can shorten flower life too. (Though I'm surprised, the one that I started the thread with is still looking good having been seriously rained on, maybe staying cool is helping, it's still less than 2 weeks and I have seen a few of the earliest flowers folding) So, alas, this is a species that puts on a spectacular show but fades fairly quickly. Secret to a longer blooming season? More plants...

[Keysguy]

for sure

[Roberta]

The first one that I posted (v. speciosum) is just starting to lose a few flowers. The next one to bloom is Den. speciosum (v. hillii 'Don Brown' x v. curvicaule) It is nearly pure white (while the v. speciosum is more cream-colored). This one is a cross between the HUGE Den speciosum that was the centerpiece of the 1998 Santa Barbara show (400 spikes, approx 100000 flowers, 3 m/9 ft across) and v. curvicaule, one of the smallest forms of Den speciosum. So this is a lovely, vigorous plant that doesn't quite take over the back yard. Note the birds-nest roots. It has filled and started to break the pot, roots grow upward. This adaptation serves it well in the wild, where it is a lithophyte growing roots into cracks in the rock to hold on and find a bit of moisture, and collecting leaves and other detritus in the upward-pointing roots. I also show the two together, v. speciosum on the left, (v. hillii x curvicaule) on the right

(There is another one, a primary hybrid of Den speciosum v. hillii x Den. gracilicaule, that isn't yet open. behind the one featured here. This one will have smaller flowers, but more of them due to the the gracilicaule influence)

[DirtyCoconuts]

what a lesson and a great show!

[isurus79]

These are great! How hard of a winter rest do you give them?

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by isurus79

These are great! How hard of a winter rest do you give them?

None. They get watered with everything else. What they do get is a good chill. Mother Nature supplies that. (Nights in the low 40s F pretty consistent, occasionally dip lower, like mid 30's F , they could handle down to 29 F but at my house that doesn't happen) Days anything from mid-high 50's F to occasional mid-70's F or maybe higher for a few days. I do the same with nearly all of my deciduous Dendrobiums as well as the temperate Aussies. And they bloom quite consistently.

(I got my cue on this approach in visiting Andy's Orchids shadehouses. There is no way that Andy could possibly segregate the Dendrobiums... they're mixed in with everything else based on temperature and light needs. Thousands of plants large and small. So everything gets watered and fertilized. And it doesn't seem to make any difference - but again, they get cold in winter because those areas are open and get ambient temps, and if a trigger is needed for blooming, that seems to suffice)

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by Roberta

None. They get watered with everything else. What they do get is a good chill. Mother Nature supplies that. (Nights in the low 40s F pretty consistent, occasionally dip lower, like mid 30's F , they could handle down to 29 F but at my house that doesn't happen) Days anything from mid-high 50's F to occasional mid-70's F or maybe higher for a few days. I do the same with nearly all of my deciduous Dendrobiums as well as the temperate Aussies. And they bloom quite consistently.

(I got my cue on this approach in visiting Andy's Orchids shadehouses. There is no way that Andy could possibly segregate the Dendrobiums... they're mixed in with everything else based on temperature and light needs. Thousands of plants large and small. So everything gets watered and fertilized. And it doesn't seem to make any difference - but again, they get cold in winter because those areas are open and get ambient temps, and if a trigger is needed for blooming, that seems to suffice)

Ah, good to know! We've got a week of such chilly temps coming up, starting on Thursday night. Do you think its too late to trick mine into thinking it's winter?

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by isurus79

Ah, good to know! We've got a week of such chilly temps coming up, starting on Thursday night. Do you think its too late to trick mine into thinking it's winter?

Maybe worth a try, but I think that the season for the chill has come and gone. Also a consideration is that the sudden jolt might be damaging if it is too cold if the plants aren't acclimated. Mine get whatever nature throws at them, so they have been experiencing the lowering of night temps since fall. It's not a sudden shock but rather a natural transition. For next year, maybe consider not sheltering at all, unless you have have serious frost on the way (not common in most of Texas but does happen occasionally)