streightening out fan?

[Optimist]

My dendrobium nobelie Love Memory Fizz has made a very large fan, and I wonder what it would take to make the canes stand upright without cutting or breaking the rhyzome. Can the various canes be guided into shape after the fact? I don't have a camera that works now, sorry.
Katy

[WhiteRabbit]

I am confused - I don't think of Dens having fans ... ? It's this a nobile type? If so, out may be possible to stake the cane upright - the base of the canes can be thin and flexible.

[Optimist]

It is about 8 canes spread apart in a fan shape. Like a hand.they are pretty tall and I am afraid that bending them will break them at the base.

[Ray]

If you try to "tighten up" the spread of canes, you will likely break some.

The thing to do is "train" them as they are growing, staking them in place until they mature.

[Paul]

Originally Posted by Ray

If you try to "tighten up" the spread of canes, you will likely break some.

The thing to do is "train" them as they are growing, staking them in place until they mature.

Ray is spot on.

However, in your current situation, the flexibility of the canes will also be a factor. Some dens produce canes that are more flexible/"floppy" (typically those types that cascade). Others are very rigid. If yours is one of the former, then you might be to safely bend them upwards a bit. Without seeing/knowing more about your particular plant, can't say much else.

[Optimist]

I tightened them using a nylon stocking. It looks awful but nothing broke. I will get a little lattice and train them from now on. I believe this plant should be hung upside down. Gravity would naturally make the canes grow perpendicular to the horizon.