Growing Dendrobium/Thylchiton kingianum on rock slab

[DelawareJim]

Do any of our Aussie friends know what types of rock Dendrobium/Thylchiton kingianum grows on in the wild? Granite, limestone, gneiss?

Looking at geological maps of eastern coastal OZ, it appears it's mostly granite in kingianum's range.

I'd like to try growing a piece of mine on a rock slab and allowing some leaf litter and such to accumulate in the canes trying to reproduce a small piece of their natural habitat for a display.

Not this big, but something like his:


Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.
Jim

[Bud]

Queensland has great gorges where there is enough water to support the ancient remnant pockets of rainforest that once covered the whole continent that is formed by rivers carving into ancient sandstone. Carnavon gorge is surrounded by white sandstone cliffs while Lawn Hill gorge is red igneous rocks. Whereas in Chillagoe, a small town in Northern Queensland, is surrounded by limestone bluffs deposited by coral reef 400 million years ago when the area was the bottom of a tropical sea….one of the most famous one is the Balancing Rock.

*your picture is a sandstone rock.

[Plodde]

Would u still put some type of medium on the rock to help the roots stay moist longer?

[Bud]

in nature, moss grows around the roots....some debris and old leaves from neighboring plants gather and becomes a sort of mix media that holds the roots together and holds moisture. You can mimic this in your environment.

[Orchidsoutdoors]

I don't think it matters, I've seen D. Kingianum growing on sandstone and granite, so both sedimentary and igneous rock. As long as it's grown fairly dry with hot summers and cool winters, it's very easy to grow.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I grow my keikis potted in clear plastic pots in granite pebbles under bright indirect light outdoors all year round. They carry on very well, so at least I know granite works. Thumbs up for igneous rocks.

The mother plant is in diatomite. So, yeah, sedimentary rocks are a go too.

---------- Post added at 06:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:12 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Plodde

Would u still put some type of medium on the rock to help the roots stay moist longer?

No. I have not done this with the keikis grown in granite pebbles, and they still do extremely well.

I can provide photos when Saturday or Sunday rolls around. I've had my keikis in straight up granite pebbles for a number of months, (approaching 1 yr), already. No problems whatsoever.

The mother plant is in Aussie Gold which is coconut coir mixed with diatomite. I think the mother plant could use a change in pots and potting media; it has done very well, but is now a keiki producing machine, (it used to not be for a few years).

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Photo of Dendrobium (Thelychiton) kingianum grown potted in granite pebbles. Keikis have been established for several months already.

[nutgirl]

I have a Kingianum mounted on a lava rock. (local northern california, mount lassen)

I tied it on with fishing line and placed coir around the base of the plant to create a moisture zone for the roots as they grew. It seemed to do best when it had something to grow into rather than on. (sorry no pics)

Maureen