help...Dendrobium KINGIANUM - Orchid Board

krystle · #1 03-27-2011, 03:52 PM

ok i know this sounds odd but if anyone could shed some light on this i am all ears! ok my Dendrobium KINGIANUM started to bloom about 15 days ago and i have noticed that the other day some of the blooms are starting to close on me i have never seen that happen! i water it about once every week, so i dont know whats going on!

Connie Star · #2 03-27-2011, 09:54 PM

I have one Den king. and it bloomed for me last summer- the blooms did not last very long, which I attributed to the heat wave happening at the time. Maybe they just don't last very long?
Also, when I went to repot it, it was actually 3 smaller plants in the pot- I kept them together just because I hadn't planned on 3 and didn't have the materials.

krystle · #3 03-28-2011, 12:06 AM

hmmm ok interesting maybe they dont last long! hopefully some one will chime in to verify that for us!

tcrane · #4 03-28-2011, 04:14 AM

Mine threw one spike this year, and the bloom lasted about two and a half weeks before fading. It took about a week for all the flowers to entirely open.

It was my first bloom on this plant, so I'm not sure if mine was shorter or longer than usual.

-Tristan

Blueszz · #5 03-28-2011, 07:08 AM

Mine too don't flower for a long period, the blooms hold better when I keep them in a cool room of the house but when I bring them to the living room, blooms are gone in 1.5-2.5 weeks.
Could be normal what you are experiencing.
Nicole

krystle · #6 03-28-2011, 06:10 PM

oh ok thanks guys at least i am not the only one noticing this, i thought i was doing something wrong.

harleymc · #7 05-18-2011, 01:38 AM

I'd regard 3 weeks as being a long duration for a kingi flower. The early flowering varieties seem to last longer than the late season flowers (approx 10 days). This is a common pattern in the spring flowering Australian dendrobes. Warm weather spells finish off the flowers quickly.

King_of_orchid_growing:) · #8 05-18-2011, 02:27 AM

Since this is an old post, you probably managed to figure something out by now, but I guess it doesn't hurt to solidify the issue.

As harleymc had mentioned, the flower's life span being roughly 10 days is about right.

The flowers don't last very long in warmer temperatures.

Do also keep in mind that there is an insect here in the US (at least here in Southern California) that is able to successfully pollinate Den. kingianum (probably some sort of honeybee, idk; never actually seen the insect specifically visit my Den. kingianum). If they were unexpectedly pollinated by an unseen insect, the flowers can also have a reduced life.