Dendrobium Frosty Dawn 'Wings of Gold' (NOT!)

[calvin_orchidL]

I was *so* excited waiting for this seedling bloom for the first time after getting it from H&R one and a half years ago. Unfortunately, it seems I have the regular frosty dawn instead of the wings of gold cultivar. I was hoping the orange colour would come in a few days post opening, but my hopes are slowly dying as I enter day three and things are still nice and white. Anyway, now I'll just have to buy another one when they come visit

Sorry for the crappy photo - my camera is out of commission so my phone is subbing in for now!

[Zoi2]

That's a bummer not getting what you expected but it is a beautiful flower and the picture turned out pretty good.
Joann

[Junebug]

Originally Posted by calvin_orchidL

I was *so* excited waiting for this seedling bloom for the first time after getting it from H&R one and a half years ago. Unfortunately, it seems I have the regular frosty dawn instead of the wings of gold cultivar. I was hoping the orange colour would come in a few days post opening, but my hopes are slowly dying as I enter day three and things are still nice and white. Anyway, now I'll just have to buy another one when they come visit

Sorry for the crappy photo - my camera is out of commission so my phone is subbing in for now!

I've included a picture of my now deceased (probably due to high temp. issues) Frosty Dawn. Your's looks different. Maybe you do have the right plant after all.

[catwalker808]

Calvin. The Wings of Gold clone has been very consistent. Usually the petal color for other Frosty Dawns is white. The orange petals are very unusual. The orange petals are affected by light intensity and temperature. There are other clones of Frosty Dawn which sometimes have orange petals; however, unlike WOG, they may only turn orange with very high light and temp. WOG petals are very consistent with sufficient light and 80+ temps.

From your photo and from your description, your flower is relatively newly opened. Notice how the petals are still very recurved after opening. They will come forward and flatten out. See my photo. Once your flower flattens out, it will be the same shape ... even to the ridges on the lip and the stand up side lobes and shape and size of the column.

If you look at the color of my leaves compared to your leaves, yours are very dark green. This indicates that your light is much less bright. The flowers need more time and brighter light for the petals to turn orange. Other people have made this observation also. Try putting your plant in more light and wait a little while. The flowers last for 2-3 months (probably 2 months in the heat of summer), so you have lots of time.

Please post new photos if that works.

If, on the outside chance, the plant does turn out to be wrong, just talk to the grower when he visits your area in August. They are very reasonable about things like that.

[quiltergal]

Calvin I agree with Catwalker. It takes my regular Frosty days to fully develop it's dark orange lip. Might also be true of the petals. Blast it with a little more light and see what happens.

[calvin_orchidL]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I have it under T5s for 16 hours a day, but maybe it needs to be a bit closer...I'll keep monitoring it though.

On the topic of these dends, maybe I'll pick your brains - I've been having some issues with a few of my nigrohirsute dends and yellowing leaf tips...despite VERY weak fertilizer and RO water. They're happy enough to bloom...although maybe they're blooming cause they're not happy. One of my dend. tobaense dropped ALL it's leaves *CRY* and my dend. peng seng (tobaense x cruentum) has yellowing, although the new growth it's maturing is completely healthy. I suspect it's allowing them to dry for too long while under pretty warm conditions - do you guys grow them quite moist during the growing season? Any experience with this?

Catwalker - your 'Tangerine Flare' plant has me inspired...wish I could get one like that!

[catwalker808]

Calvin. The photo I posted is 'Wings of Gold' ... same clone as what you have. Did you read my post above?

Yes. The plants do need very good drainage and lots of water during the growth season. But I cannot emphasize the need for good drainage. If you have the drainage, don't be afraid of watering because, when they are in new growth, that's the only time significant new roots are developing. But better to underwater than to have wet and soggy feet. That will rot the roots. Prolonged underwatering may cause water stress, yellowing and some leaf loss. In nature, all of the involved species grow attached to trees ... in effect, they are "mounted", since there are few potted plants in nature.

Frosty Dawn has a mix of formosum dens in the background. Frosty Dawn = Dawn Maree x Lime Frost. Dawn Maree = formosum (warm, large, robust plant, 3-1/2" spring white flowers, yellow lip, only at tops of canes) x cruentum (warm, slender, few canes, random season, light greenish/cream flowers, brilliant red in lip). Lime Frost = scabrilingue (warm-intermediate, small fragrant spring whites, yellow to light orange lips, semi-deciduous) x cruentum. Cruentum background allows Frosty Dawn to often bloom spring and fall. Scabrilingue lightens lip from Dawn Maree red-orange to Frosty Dawn orange. Scabrilingue also gives nice fragrance, but its semi-deciduous habit also causes some lower leaf drop in Frosty Dawn during cold winter periods, or when plants experience major climate change (sudden chilling). Partial leaf drop is not harmful and is a normal reaction when it is very cold.

[calvin_orchidL]

Thanks for the tips - Yeah I was referring to your other thread.

I have it potted in a very loose mix with tons of air - I found that they like that too. I'll make sure they get more regular water though - I started doign that and so far the yellowing has stopped

Originally Posted by catwalker808

Calvin. The photo I posted is 'Wings of Gold' ... same clone as what you have. Did you read my post above?

Yes. The plants do need very good drainage and lots of water during the growth season. But I cannot emphasize the need for good drainage. If you have the drainage, don't be afraid of watering because, when they are in new growth, that's the only time significant new roots are developing. But better to underwater than to have wet and soggy feet. That will rot the roots. Prolonged underwatering may cause water stress, yellowing and some leaf loss. In nature, all of the involved species grow attached to trees ... in effect, they are "mounted", since there are few potted plants in nature.

Frosty Dawn has a mix of formosum dens in the background. Frosty Dawn = Dawn Maree x Lime Frost. Dawn Maree = formosum (warm, large, robust plant, 3-1/2" spring white flowers, yellow lip, only at tops of canes) x cruentum (warm, slender, few canes, random season, light greenish/cream flowers, brilliant red in lip). Lime Frost = scabrilingue (warm-intermediate, small fragrant spring whites, yellow to light orange lips, semi-deciduous) x cruentum. Cruentum background allows Frosty Dawn to often bloom spring and fall. Scabrilingue lightens lip from Dawn Maree red-orange to Frosty Dawn orange. Scabrilingue also gives nice fragrance, but its semi-deciduous habit also causes some lower leaf drop in Frosty Dawn during cold winter periods, or when plants experience major climate change (sudden chilling). Partial leaf drop is not harmful and is a normal reaction when it is very cold.

[catwalker808]

Oh yeah. I was wondering where you got the the name 'Tangerine Flare' ... I forgot I posted a photo a little while back. You're cross-referencing, eh?

With so many threads and so many unusual pseudonyms out there ... but forgetting my own post!!!

With all the T storms in your area, you could put your plant outside and not even have to worry about insufficient watering. I guess that's also why you haven't had enough light.