Dendobium kingianum (success? finally)

[dbarron]

I've had kingianum in the past (20 years ago) and I grew it for four or five years and never had a spike.
In 2021, I got another kingianum and produced blasted buds and a kiki, during winter 2022.
So, my spikes are being produced this year and I think I can avoid what I allowed to kill them last year (lack of water). I attribute successful spiking to (yes what everyone says) actually growing cooler in the winter (mostly unheated laundry room). I think I'm also gonna say that a dry dormant period is a mistake (at least for my conditions and climate).
I think I'm gonna do it...I think.....

Oh and as a funny, my dendrobium bracteosum x tanii is budding. I noticed it last week when I was watering pre-dawn. I nearly picked up a bud/nascent spike thinking it was a slug when I couldn't see the purple/green color. I was horrified to think I almost broke it off *lol*. I have flowered pure bracteosum in years past, but this was the first time this plant had shown buds (acquired in Mar 2022) and I wasn't actually expecting them quite yet.

[Roberta]

Outstanding! Will be eager to see the flowers. From my own experience, I'm fully convinced that cold is the trigger, not dryness, for Dens. (No fertilizer in winter, but they do still want water)

Den bracteosum x tanii is still really bracteosum... tanii is a smaller form, but not accepted as a separate species. I have one of those - a flower machine, in bloom almost all the time. (Long-lasting flowers, and about the time one batch is fading, ano new batch is starting) A great plant!

[Dalachin]

How cold did you get it, and for how long?

[Roberta]

Den bracteosum x tanii (and bracteosum) I grow in the GH, winter night temps down to 59-60 deg F. Den kingiamum grow outside, so they (along with the rest of the temperate-zone Aussie Den species and hybrids) get whatever Mother Nature throws at them. Winter nights typically in the low 40's F, occasionally into the 30's for a few hours. Winter days usually get up to 66-68 deg F, sometimes a good bit more. so they warm up during the day. I suspect that they like the variation.

[estación seca]

Den. xdelicatum, a kingianum primary hybrid, does fine at my mother's house outdoors all year. It is only about 20 miles from Roberta's house, but on the other side of the coastal hills, so a little cooler in winter due to lack of marine effect.

[dbarron]

Well my laundry room is essentially unheated (key in that pipes froze last year ), but I'd say the low has been between 40 and 50 so far this year out there. Really don't want pipes to freeze again, but it was everyone in town last winter.
I (at least as of now) only have like two spikes advancing, but it's better than I've ever had before (nothing).

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by dbarron

Well my laundry room is essentially unheated (key in that pipes froze last year ), but I'd say the low has been between 40 and 50 so far this year out there. Really don't want pipes to freeze again, but it was everyone in town last winter.
I (at least as of now) only have like two spikes advancing, but it's better than I've ever had before (nothing).

It's still early... my Aussie Dendrobiums (kingianum and others) typically don't bloom until February or March. You may get more!

[Leafmite]

There are some that are said to be easier to bloom but I could never find those varieties. I had two for several years and while they grew very well, they would not bloom even though I would give them night temperatures of 40'F. Finally, on advice from one of the orchid forums, I left them outside with night temperatures in the mid 30'F's and...they died! I have not tried them or anything else that needs a cold period again.

[dbarron]

Leafmite, sounds about like my experience (humourously). This year I'm trying to flower Echinopsis cactii by leaving them outside (unless it's getting below 25), so far only lost one..and it may be just because too much rain. I may lose them all, but after eight years, I decided to try something different. Technically hardy till 18F or so.

[Roberta]

When pushing the envelope of cold tolerance, acclimating the plant is super-important. If it has been out as the weather cools, it can handle more than being moved out after being protected. Also, they tend to be more tolerant if dry.

I get away with leaving my orchids out to get rained on, since when it's raining it's a bit warmer - cloud cover is insulating. The most dangerous time is early spring, where occasionally the rain will stop and the clouds vanish, causing temperature to drop more. But I haven't lost anything to cold since the great freeze of 2006-2007, and there only lost a couple. So far so good. Another factor in my local weather pattern is that even the worst cold is only for a few hours, the days tend to be much warmer. In fact, if it's clear, days can be quite lovely. So I get away with a lot due to multiple factors in the weather pattern - in other places cold can be much more severe, sudden, and last longer. So what applies in southern California can't necessarily be applied elsewhere.