Dendrobium Questions

[OrchidAngel]

Where to start.....my husband saw this orchid with beautiful yellow/green blooms. He loved it. It looks to be planted in sphagnum moss. It also looks really big for the size of pot its in. And the pot has barely any drainage or airflow holes. I think from what I have read that I should leave it in its pot until its done blooming. Anyone that would like to give me their 2cents that would be great. Any other hints for caring for Dends and identification of what group this one is in would be great too. Thanks in advance.

Added....its roots are so packed into that little pot. Do they like to be root bound to bloom? Or is that just because it has grown so much in this small pot.

[Ross]

While I don't grow Dendros (with a few exceptions) what I know is that they tend to like being pot-bound. I don't think yours is under potted by much. If you choose to increase the pot size while repotting, don't get to pot-happy and try to keep the increase to an inch or so. You want to keep them crowded for best blooming. Dump the plastic pot and go with the clay pot alone (just my two cents.) Nice plant by the way.

[Chubidubi]

Very nice plant. I agree with Ross on this one.

[vickyth]

I'd probably repot in that same size, after replacing the medium. I'm not fond of dendrobiums in sphagnum (although I'm sure it works great for folks in really dry areas). Once you get the moss out, have a look at the roots. There may be enough dead ons to be trimmed that getting the plant back into the same pot will be a piece of cake.

But I'd repot in that size, were it me.
Cheers!
Vicky

[karren]

I do fairly well with Den. and I rarely mess with their roots, I just pot up to a slightly larger pot. Yours is happy and blooming , you don't need to change much.

Sometimes the pot is so full of roots that there is no medium. Then I may need to water daily because there is nothing to hold moisture. Yours still has spag in there. Then at an appropriate time I will place the whole root mass in a slightly larger pot and add a bit of medium in the space around the edge.

[OrchidAngel]

I worry though, with our higher humidity that if I leave it in the sp moss that it may stay too moist. Don't know though. That was what concerned me about the pot situation with the plastic pot and etc. I will certainly keep in mind that they like to be more root bound.

[quiltergal]

While conventional wisdom says they like to be pot bound that has not been my personal experience with Dens. Last summer I repotted a formosae group plant from a 4" pot to a 6" pot only because I didn't have a smaller size. I did the same with a phal type. The formosae plant went nuts. It grew a nice new cane and there are roots galore. It also bloomed in the spring with a total of 13 flowers on 4 canes. Even the oldest leafless cane bloomed. The phal type also grew like mad. The roots are the craziest part about it. The have filled the pot and are wildly growing outside the pot. This years new growth that just started in the early spring is over an inch in diameter! It's also blooming for the first time in 3 years. While I wouldn't recommend going up 2 pot sizes on purpose it certainly didn't seem to have any adverse effects on my plants. Could be just dumb luck! Who knows?