Shhhh, don't tell them ....

[Paul]

We all know how fincky Dendrobiums can be. Those hard cane types are quite insistant that they receive lots of light, excellant drainage and good air circulation. My NOID is in bloom right now. It was one of those minidens [some Den phalanopsis cross] that many of the BBS carried for a while -- though I haven't seen any in several years at least [now they stick more to catts, big dens, and oncs]. Typically canes on this one would get to be about 6-9 inches [14-22 cm] tall. Did well for me for several years then got ornery. Some died and the remaining refused to bloom. So I threw them in my little bog terr figuring if they died, "so what?".

Of course, ornery little cusses that they are, they refused to die. They've been in this terr for probably 10 years now. They bloom once in a while [every few years], though not nearly as prolifically as they did in their hayday.

Sorry for the poor pic quality but taking the pic through glass presents problems for me.

This pic was taken shortly after weeding out some of the volunteer ferns








The canes don't get nearly as big as they used to -- only 1-2 inches typically. Flower size is about 1 inch [2.5 cm] across ... that did not diminish.

For those who are interested:

media = 100% wet [not merely moist] peat moss over about 1/2 inch free but hideously colored neon aquarium gravel

air circulation = none except whatever minor convection currents occur in a 10 gal tank. The top of the tank is sealed with plastic wrap.

fertilizer = none

lighting = whatever it happens to receive next to whatever window I happen to set it next to [presently one in my classroom]

watering = distilled, rain or RO water -- whatever is on hand. Typically a year or more passes between waterings [yes I said a year or more]


Apparently, no one told them they should be dead by now.