dendrobium kingianum

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit

cool - I mean to leave it outside during winter - do they want a good deal of light in winter?

Give them as much light as possible in the winter to get a good flowering rate (enough light to flower a Cymbidium well is ideal). Even with a winter chill, the flowering rate will be poor without good light.

With regard to the so called rest, the importance of a dry winter is often overstated. If you're keeping the plant cool enough you don't need to keep the plant particularly dry over winter. They will need less water simply because it's cold but you don't need to keep them bone dry for months on end. I've kept kingies out in the open getting all the rain that a Melbourne winter brings and they've still flowered well (and this includes the low quality, shell pink, keiki machines).
Regarding how cold the can go, we usually get a few winter nights down to 32F where I live and the kingies don't mind. The aerials/keikis are also just as cold tolerant as the parent plant, although they're probably not as dry tolerant.

[Call_Me_Bob]

that was VERY helpful! thank you very much!

[Florida_guy_26]

Ok guys - just some info, they can bloom all year in australia and mine so far is trying to shoot out spikes as far as I can tell in the middle of summer. They only need a drop of 5- 10 F from their normal night temps and they will start producing eventually spikes or keikis. They can be induced into flowering by placing them in the fridge each night for at least 2 hrs if the fridge is set to a minimum of 35F. My fridge is set low but each shelf has a different temp. The top shelf is around 37- 38F and the next shelf drops about 2- 4F then the drawers are around 30F. I placed my den nobiles and den kingianum on the 2nd shelf at 34F and they did fine all night. I check to make sure but i have let the den nobiles hit 34F along with the kingianum and my den anosmum has hit 39F over winter in nw fl. so they can take less than you think as long as they are good size and strong healthy plants. I grew outside as the plants were more hardened and could handle low extremes for short periods. I even got my vanilla orchid to hit 46F as most people said they could only handle 55F. I think you should let your kingianum grow vegetatively until it is mature which is when the canes reach their max hight usually around 6- 8" but some can hit 10". My kingianum max out at around 6" tall but are blooming size and there are 2 slight variations in the species- one type grows lower to about 4 - 6" tall at max with short fat bulbs/canes and some hit 8-10" tall and are tall and thinner or more spindle shape. The flowers look and smell almost identical but the taller thin cane/bulb variation tend to spread more as the smaller variation grows more densely with short swollen bulbs and overcrowds itself. I got the smaller variation that seems to grow more short and swollen and the smaller ones can seem to overcrowd themselves. I do have canes/bulbs that are growing sympodial canes in a dense clump and will need to be separated into 2 plants instead of one. I also have mine blooming as the temps dropped one night from 75- 80F down to about 70F and that was all it took to start spiking. I also have only lightly misted the plant once in the 7- 10 days since the spikes started. I will not water again until the spikes have elongated and show signs of buds as tis si when they need the most water. They get bright light now but only get direct sun light in winter. They are all used to direct light in winter and less direct light in summer even phals can stand direct sun in winter as long as the sun shift is gradual. I would wait to see what kind of plant you have- it could be the short stocky variation or the taller slender variation and wait till canes have all started maxing out on hight and then expose to a drop of 5 - 10F or you can get them used to the fridge by letting them stay outside until temps are around 45- 40F and then keep them in the fridge or leave them outside for as long as possible before temps hit less than 35F then take them in. I also have recipes for bloom fertilizer that is home made and will induce very young plants to flower if they are able to.

[Call_Me_Bob]

very good to know! that bloom fert., will it work for other plants? and even when the plants arent n their blooming season?

[Florida_guy_26]

It works well for most of my orchids and keeps some almost everblooming- i have to stop the spikes or they will keep trying to rebloom. I do think the fertilizer will work on other plants but not to the same extent although i used it on my mulberry trees and got about 2-3 x as much fruit last year and the azaleas and hydrangeas seem to benefit most from it as it high levels of potash.

[Call_Me_Bob]

okay, would it work on say a phal? i would like the recipe if thats ok. thanks!

[cneos]

I am always eager to try something new - bloom boosters, fertilizers, rooting hormones, potting techniques, etc. but on ONE plant at a time. Why risk a whole collection?

Florida Guy 26 says, "It (home-made bloom fertilizer) works well for most of my orchids and keeps some almost everblooming- i have to stop the spikes or they will keep trying to rebloom."

But remember, some orchids bloom because they are robust and healthy; some will literally bloom themselves to death in hopes that they'll be pollinated and perpetuate themselves. ... I once had a phal stuartiana with two, three foot long branched inflorescences carrying more than 100 flowers and buds. It was a spectacular display! Problem was the entire plant had only 3 pairs of leaves and very skimpy roots as you could see by its being mounted on a cork slab.

[Beverly]

Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit

Since we are on the topic - how long before a kingi keiki may be 'bloom size'? I have a couple I left on the parent plant - they are a little over a year old - there seems to be nodes swelling on them ...

I took some keiki's off a plant and put 6 in s/h for an experiment last summer. They did not get much bigger but I got flowers on three and the other three put out new growths at their bases. I kept them more dryer then I should have, kept them in a cool room in a small southern window.
Mine flowered at less then 6 inches>
I hope that helps.
Beverly

[Lady Tottington]

oopsie-doopsie, I should have read the whole thread, found the answers!

[Florida_guy_26]

Yes, that is true cneos- some orchids will bloom themselves to death in hopes that they are pollinated. The thing that you do not understand is that this fertilizer works as my plants are healthy and If you do not believe me, look on my gallery page and see for yourself. My plants re-bloom because they are healthy and are getting the potash they need along with photosynthesis to do so. My plants do not keep blooming if they are sickly or not ready to bloom. The fertilizer I use is home made and helps plants that are ready to bloom do just that. It isnt going to give you a huge display if the plant does not have the energy for it.