Dendrobium NOID rescue - advice?

[DeanneD]

I have a leafless NOID rescue. The roots are grown firmly into coconut -- not small pieces of coconut in a pot, it looks like the plant was grown in a emptied out full coconut shell. The shell is half gone and the roots are embedded firmly into the other half. I think I should just leave it alone for now at least. Am I right?

I also know there are several types of Dendrobiums and the care of the different types varies. Is it likely that this is a nobile considering it's leafless state?

Thanks for any suggestions!
Deanne

[RosieC]

Hi Deanne and welcome to Orchid Board.

It's difficult to know what type it is without pictures. If you can post some that would be good, they would also help with advise on whether it should be left where it is. If you need help posting pictures there is some advice here.
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...chidboard.html

[DeanneD]

Here are the pictures, finally! Any suggestions/advice?

Thanks!
Deanne

[RosieC]

Wow, it's completely embedded isn't it!

I'm afraid I still can't tell what type of Den it is, but it does look like it's meant to be deciduous.

Are you watering it at the momment. I would suggest that if not you should start trying to give it water regularly to see if it will spring back in to growth.

As for the shell, I would suggest leaving it at the momment. I think I would possibly try finding a shallow pot which would allow the whole thing to go in and put a bit of bark arround it.

I'm really not sure though, I think I would be quite stumped with what to do, I hope someone else will give their thoughts as well.

[gnathaniel]

Hi Deanne, it looks like you have a Dendrobium in section Phalaenanthe, probably a complex hybrid involving Den. phalaenopsis and related species. These often drop leaves on older canes or stressed plants, but they don't experience seasonal deciduousness like many nobile-type species and hybrids.

It looks like you might have a few good roots but overall most look dead. I advise keeping your plant somewhat dry (occasional waterings) and warm until it sprouts a new lead. Continue watering sparingly until new growths put out their own roots, then increase water and fertilizer. Pinching off the tip of the newest pseudobulb may encourage it to sprout a lead if reluctant.

Den-phal types do well with coarse, fast-draining media in tight pots with good drainage. Adding styrofoam packing peanuts to the pot is an easy way to maintain aeration. I've also seen nice plants of these grown mounted on cork, tree branches, etc. Hope this helps!

--Nat

[DeanneD]

Thanks Rosie & Nat! That's pretty much what I've been doing -- water once in a while, but not too much and otherwise leave it alone and watch for new growth. I'll find a pot to set it in with some styrofoam peanuts & nip the top off that cane. The canes are still green and filled out, so I think it's doing ok.

Nat, how on earth did you take a guess at what it might be based on just the canes!? I believe you, I just don't have the experience to be able to tell one den from another yet. What kind of things do you look at?

[grasshopper]

I also have a NOID dendrobium like this one (has a few leaves, but not many) and it's potted in the same material. I can see that the roots are plump and they look healthy; however, I have no idea how to repot it when the time comes. RosieC advised to leave it be and place it in a pot with bark surrounding it. When it's time to pot up (which might be a while!) to a 4" pot, should I follow this advice or make an attempt at removing the plant from the coconut and potting it in fir bark? I thought about soaking it to loosen the coconut, but it is so embedded that I worry about damaging the roots.

[DeanneD]

I tried picking at the coconut a bit after watering it to see if I could pull it off, but in the end, decided I was going to do more harm than good. I figure eventually, the coconut will start to break down and maybe I'll be able to peel it off slowly over time as it breaks down.

[gnathaniel]

Originally Posted by DeanneD

Nat, how on earth did you take a guess at what it might be based on just the canes!? I believe you, I just don't have the experience to be able to tell one den from another yet. What kind of things do you look at?

Hmmm...tough one for me to answer. Both my parents are botanists and though I'm pretty good at visual ID of plants I'm not much practiced with systematic anatomical description...

I think the biggest visual clue for me is that the 'canes' (pseudobulbs) of plants in sections Phalaenanthe and Spatulata have an evenly tapering shape, sort of like a hand-rolled cigar (or a joint! ). Section Eudendrobium plants ('nobile-type,' though some nobile hybrids also involve plants from other sections) are often thinner at the base and tip but with less of an even taper to the cane (with some exceptions). They sometimes have swollen nodes, too, giving canes a 'knobby' look. I feel like there's also a visual difference to the leaf bracts sheathing old canes, maybe Phalaenanthes have more layers of bracts than Eudendrobiums?

Of course, another good clue is that all the plants I've recently seen sold in big pieces of coconut husk like yours are Den-phal types. In fact most Dendrobiums sold at grocery and big-box stores (and thus likely to be 'rescues') are Den-phals, so even if I just guessed I'd have a pretty good chance of being right.

I've got a few strongly deciduous species in section Eudendrobium, I'll try to get some good pictures of their pseudobulbs and post them so you can see the difference. It might take me a little while though, this is a crazy week at my work and I'm somewhat dysfunctional at getting pictures to show up on OB.

Good question, sorry I don't (yet) have a good answer! Any plant anatomists lurking out there who can enlighten us?

--Nat

[DeanneD]

At long last, a sign of life! This lil' plant has been in my "hospital ward" (10-gallon aquarium on a heat mat) for a month & a half. When it's been nice out, I've set it out on my porch during the day. I had to stop one of the neighbor kids from swinging it around by the cane once. grrrr!

Every week or so, I've given it a shot of water. Yesterday I left it soaking in a pot of water all day. Last night, I saw a tiny tip of green at the end of one of the roots.