Dendrobium Boot Camp Training

[Junebug]

For the last 3 years my Phal. type Dendrobiums were grown in underlit conditions. They still grew and flowered but they became unbalanced as they're long canes grew curved and unruly. Last fall my husband built a shade house for me. The dendobiums love it and as a result all their new growth is growing upright. They're currently space hogs with all the sideways and upright growth and it makes repotting them a challenge.

Last weekend I attempted to repot one, and let's say it didn't turn out so well. The base of the plant was beginning to split (making a natural division) and both divisions had upright and sideways growth. Now I had 2 crazy looking Dendrobiums that needed to be potted. After many attemps and failures I decided to try to find a solution in my junk filled garage.

This bamboo mail organizer is what I came up with. I filled the top and bottom portions with lava rock, mounted one division to each section, and filled in some of the air space with coconut fiber. The new growth is positioned so it can continue to grow up and then send other leads straight up. I plan to remove the old mishapen growth when it's completely shriveled and yellow. This process will probably take a year or two, but it's the only logical solution I could come up with that wouldn't distress the plant. My hope is that in time the plants will develop enough multiple upright growths to allow them to be potted. This would give them a more attractive appearance and allow them to grow in less horizontal space. I water the mount 2 or 3 times a day and so far, so good. The new growths are still growing, sending out fresh roots ,and one of the old growths has 2 emerging spikes.

[camille1585]

What a cool mount! Collecting junk can be very useful, and I say this coming from a long line of packrats.

You're right about them growing in every direction, not a single cane is straight! What about leaving them mounted if this works out well?

[nenella]

Cool mount! I think it should do very well! Keep us posted

[Call_Me_Bob]

thats really cool!

[WhiteRabbit]

Looks great! bonus points for creativity and recycling!

[Junebug]

Thanks everyone.

Camille,

My mother was a pack rat too, and would refer to a day of thrift shopping as treasure hunting. She could always muster treasure from discarded items and instilled in me the passion for thrift shopping at a very early age.

My makeshift bamboo training mount will probably deteriorate in a year or two. By that time I should be able to find something else in my garage that's more suitable.

[johnblagg]

Nice

[Tropicgirl]

Very creative! I am also a bit of a pack rat and find this very inspiring. Thanks for sharing!

[CTB]

Neat! I'm always looking for something different to plant in, this one serves double duty.

[RosieC]

That looks like a great solution, they look really good on there, and it solves the potting problem.