Dendrobium Hibiki culture

[Gthumbz89]

Does anyone have any tips for keeping this guy alive??? The last time I tried to grow a laevifolium I killed it super quickly. I read they like to be watered everyday but after the last attempt I'm not so sure.

[bethmarie]

I recently acquired a/an hibiki, and am researching best care. I'll get back and share what I find, and will watch this thread for the experience of others. I will say I don't know of any Dendrobiums that do well with daily watering, unless perhaps mounted. Even my moisture loving cuthbertsonii hybrids don't want to stay soggy.

I really love this particular Dendrobium. Have you had yours for a while?

[Gthumbz89]

I got mine about a month ago. So far I haven't killed it which is good. However, the bulbs are shriveling and its lost a leaf or two. The good news is that the roots appear to be healthy.

[bethmarie]

I contacted the grower I got mine from-- he said give it good medium-bright light, light fertilization and don't let it go too dry. Most orchids have a better chance of survival if under-watered than over-watered, so I'd proceed with caution there.

Mine's in a 3" pot in a bark mix, and I'm watering about every 5-6 days. I run a fan constantly in my growing area, and that dries things out quicker.

What size pot, what medium is yours potted in?

This is a bracteosum/laevifolium cross. I'll have to do some reading to see if it requires a winter rest. If anyone else knows, chime in!

[Gthumbz89]

It is in a three inch net pot with wood chips as a medium. I think it's still a baby, but the vendor said it should bloom sometime within the year. So I shouldn't water every day then...probably why I killed the potted laevifolium Is it normal for the old bulbs to shrivel? Makes me think I'm not watering enough, but I'm already watering every other day.

[SOS]

Dendrobium laevifolium will rarely have shriveled bulbs, but not an uncommon occurrence for bracteosum.

I'm trying to figure out how to flower this hybrid as well. I have laevifolium in intermediate conditions. It doesn't dry out heavily, and I flush it with RO. It's not an easy species to bloom well.

Den. bracteosum is much easier; warm and bright, grown drier than laevifolium. I've been trying to grow hibiki like laevifolium but will experimenting growing it like its counterpart.

[WhiteRabbit]

I don't grow this, so can't really help out - but bark mix in a small net pot may dry quickly. A skewer in the media can take the guess work out of watering.

[IcePenguin]

I have a pretty decent sized Hibiki, have had it about 4 years now. It grows in a fairly small pot vs. its size. I water it daily and heavily in summer(its outdoors) and gets some direct sun and dappled sunlight the majority of the day. I fertilize a couple times a week during summer. Winter when indoors I actually have the pot sitting in a small saucer of water to be sure it doesn't dry out. Right now as it has every summer, it has a cluster of buds forming. But the real show for mine is in winter when the plant just explodes with blooms.

[IcePenguin]

I pulled up pictures of the last blooming this past winter.It stays in bloom a very long time also.
the bloom cluster forming now will stay in bloom well into late fall early winter when the main blooming takes place.

[Gthumbz89]

Wow!!! Those pictures are absolutely stunning, Icepenguin!!! How big was yours when it started to bloom?? Mine's maybe 4 inches tall. Thanks for the culture tips.