Question: Which Den. nobile types grow large and are cold tolerant?

[Weebl]

I am curious to know, and figured this board would have the best suggestions, which species or hybrids of nobile Dendrobiums are cold-tolerant and get large (up to 2'-3' long canes when mature).
I currently am under the impression that aphyllum, anosmum/superbum and wardianum fit this bill. Does anyone know of any others?

[isurus79]

Im pretty sure that all of the nobile types (including Dend. nobile!) which is Section Dendrobium are cold tolerant and most have 2' canes or longer. In addition to the ones you already mentioned, some of the more common ones are parishii/rhodopterygium (shorter canes but cold tolerant), devonianum, falconeri, loddigesii (shorter canes but cold tolerant), moscatum, etc. A truly spectacular source for Section Dendrobium and other Dends is called "Dendrobium and Its Relatives" by Bill Lavarack et. al. Its a bit pricy but well worth every penny.

[epiphyte78]

In terms of cold tolerance suitability...I have two ranking systems. One gives points primarily based on habitat information from the Bakers and the other gives points based on everything else. Everything else includes grow lists and other books.

Here's a breakdown...

Dendrobium anosmum ______ 76 / -30
Dendrobium aphyllum _______143 / 48
Dendrobium chrysanthum ___154 / 54
Dendrobium devonianum ____157 / 18
Dendrobium falconeri _______154 / 18
Dendrobium loddigesii ______118 / 108
Dendrobium moschatum ____163 / 60
Dendrobium nobile _________155 / 156
Dendrobium parishii ________159 / 0
Dendrobium wardianum _____154 / 0

Aphyllum has 48 points because the only reference I've ever run across for it being grown outdoors in a somewhat cooler climate is on this page (listed under pierardii). Despite the lack of supporting evidence I picked up a couple and they've taken it down to 33F no problem. The larger one is currently budding.

Anosmum has -30 points because nobody that I know of has grown it outdoors in cooler climates and Botanica lists it for zones 10-12 as an I-H grower, Friend lists it for subtropical and tropical gardens, and Flora lists it as an I-H grower.

Wardianum has 0 points because nobody I know of has grown it outdoors in cooler climates, Friend lists it for cooler and subtropical gardens but Flora lists it as an I-H grower.

My chrysanthum is doing ok, haven't had it that long but it's starting to put out new growth. I killed a seedling devonianum...well...actually a gang of slugs killed it but it was putting out a lot of new growth after I discovered it liked being fairly moist during summer. My falconeri bit the dust because I mounted it without any moss and didn't notice that the overhead mister was missing it until it was too late. I've lost a couple loddigesii because they did not receive enough water when mounted but somehow I ended up with a couple more and I keep them in pots now...except for one...which is directly under a mister. My moschatum is pretty tough and survived quite a bit of neglect and abuse from bugs...I look forward to seeing if it's tougher than nobile.

The points system I use is definitely not a certain indicator of suitability...really I just use it to help prioritize which orchids to try next. I would probably spend $5 on an overgrown anosmum versus $50 for a near blooming size wardianum...but if they were the same size and price I'd base my decision on which has the most points.

[wonderlen3000]

All of the nobile type Dendrobium can grow up to 2-3' tall if you give them enough water and fertilizer.

You can try these also:
Den. luetiefolium
Den. heterocarpun
Den. fimbriatum
Den. chryseum
Den. henryii
Den. signatum
Den. pulchellum
Den. devonianum
Den. amoenum and bensonaie

[Bolero]

Yeah all nobiles will be cold tolerant if you keep them dry.

I have a few such as Den Don Thompson and Den Malones growing beautifully in cool and warm weather. Although this year they didn't flower as expected.

P.S. I should also say they are a lot of fun to grow. I have a small group of them sitting in a corner and I find them an interesting distraction in a cool climate. I plan to get many more when my orchid house has been completed.

[epiphyte78]

Interestingly enough, here's documentation of Dendrobium anosmum surviving sub-freezing temperatures (the third post down).

[Roy]

As Bolero said, all nobile type dends grow cool but are killed rapidly by frost or low single digit temps.
Out of all the names of dends offered, only Den nobile and D. wardianum are. The early nobile type dens can grow canes to 5 feet or more and are a pain to handle. Most or all of the modern hybrids from Yamamoto remain shortish, up to 2 feet approx', it depends on culture. This is because of one parent used in the background. If you want nobile type dends then as I said the others names offered don't fit the bill but are very nice plants to have.
Try this website,
Yamamoto Dendrobiums Hawaii

[Florida_guy_26]

Just so you guys know as I have not documented anything, but I have let my vanilla planifolia get down to about 46F which is a difference from the 55F lowest temps recommended on many sites. I also let me dendrobium anosmum and nobile red emperor prince get down to 36F without any adverse or damaging effects when i lived in northwest florida. Those may not be documented, but they can be used as guidelines for all of the serious growers.