stubburn den

[tanlu]

Hi,

I've been trying to grow this one (evergreen) miniature dendrobium-phal that I purchased at Trader Joes in 2009, but it hasn't flowered since fall 2009. It sent out a new vigorous shoot in the spring 2010, but that cane didn't grow any longer than the older cane. I even grew it outside where it received more than enough light and warmth, which turned the edges/tips of its leaves purple. I've been following the advice of an orchid grower from allexperts.com, but he may have been giving my instructions pertaining to nobile dens.

I decided to repot it in hopes of stimulating new growth. What I discovered in the old coconut husk medium was a SMALL RED WORM!!! It looked like a blood worm...and I got rid of it. Now it's snug in it's new smaller pot.(I heard dens like to be snug and secure in fir bark potting mix). It has a very healthy root system, but dormant upper growth.

It's in my kitchen and gets lots of direct sunlight which doesn't seem to harm it at all.

What can I do to make it start growing??

[RosieC]

I was going to say that light is the key for Den Phals, but you've already tried that. Outside light is always brigher than inside but if it was enough to turn the leaf tips purple it sounds bright enough.

Not sure where in the world you are, but if you are in the northern hemesphere it could be quite usual to have no growth just now. I find they can sometimes start arround Christmas, but mine seem more likely to get growing arround March. I would just be patient with the growth.

One thought on blooming is that high nitrogen levels can inhibit blooming in many orchids. If you are fertilising try using it at the concentration recomended in Ray's calculator on this link Fertilizer Mixing Calculators. That is a good balanced figure for blooming AND growth. I would generally think the blooming would be later in the summer/autumn.