Dendrobium laevifolium in bloom

[wintergirl]

Thanks Katrina. I keep mine in phal light. It gets scary when they start to look ugly, but for a little plant that bloomed for 6 months straight I guess it had to rest. Did you fertilize?

[katrina]

Yea, I have a few plants that do that ugly thing and, at first, it's a little hard to get used to it. In time you begin to recognize it and you don't worry so much.

I did fertilize this plant...I think all plants need at least a little from time to time. Even my cactus get fertilized.

W/all my plants, I fertilize more regularly during the warmer months when everything is at it's most active and they are outside but I also fertilize during the winter. For me, this plant never went "dormant" during the winter so it continued to get fert when I did the others.

If, by chance, your set up is such that it does kind of take a nap in the winter then I would eliminate the fert until it wakes up again. Anything that takes a rest also gets a rest from fert until I see new growth/activity.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Goodness how did I miss all this latest discussion. thanks Katrina for all the info. Mine lost 2 leaves so far and I think will lose another but the other blooms are just starting to open so I do think it is not to unhappy.

Glad to know that it blooms on old growths I was wondering how the bloom spikes looked like the growths. this is my first Den and so will take some getting use too. I'm always thinking they need to grow a new growth before they can bloom on it.

[katrina]

Sounds like your plant is happy and doing it's thing.

If you find you like this type of Den...look at adding bracteosum and/or tannii. Very similar in growth and bloom habit as your little one. Different, but similar w/the clusters of flowers. I have bracteosum (white x pink), tannii, tannii var alba, and Hibiki and I absolutely love this group of dens. They stay on the short side, the blooms last forever, they continue to bloom on old growths for years, and I have found them to be relatively easy growers.

[wintergirl]

Originally Posted by katrina

Sounds like your plant is happy and doing it's thing.

If you find you like this type of Den...look at adding bracteosum and/or tannii. Very similar in growth and bloom habit as your little one. Different, but similar w/the clusters of flowers. I have bracteosum (white x pink), tannii, tannii var alba, and Hibiki and I absolutely love this group of dens. They stay on the short side, the blooms last forever, they continue to bloom on old growths for years, and I have found them to be relatively easy growers.

Thanks Katrina, I do love this little guy and I'm sure I will want the others. I even ordered a den laev for my mother in New Mexico. She wanted one after hearing about mine.

[ThePinkCucumber]

So pretty!

[The Mutant]

After seeing someone post a picture of this little Den. here on OB, I went ahead and bought one as well this winter.

It came with a free snail and a bad rotsystem, but it seems to come along pretty nicely now. It has gotten six new bulbs and a ton of roots. I hope I'll be able to keep it alive and flower it as well. It's so cute, and I now have my sights set on a possible miniature friend in the form of a Den. lamyaiae.

[estación seca]

I got one too, in bloom. I put it in my coolest room, the back bathroom, under a skylight. The air conditioning vent in that room can't be closed, and I keep the door shut so the dogs don't fight over who gets to sleep in the bathtub.

I put it into a large glass jar at night to increase humidity, but I see people here suggest that's not necessary, so I'm going to stop doing this. There are some dead spots on some of the leaves. The plant looked immaculate on arrival. I don't want the closed air to rot the leaves. It spent 5 days in a dark box with FedEx, which is longer than I expected.

It arrived in sphagnum. I removed it from the pot without disturbing the root ball. Everything looks good down below, so I left it as is. The sphagnum stays moist for many days, so I haven't been watering it that much. The moss on top is green and fresh. Does this seem appropriate?

By the way, IOSPE shows it comes from Vanuatu. I found this:

Vanuatu Climate

[wintergirl]

They like to stay moist. Their roots are very rubbery. I put mine in a little plastic dish with some air holes, especially in the bottom. It is in 100% spagh moss which I moisten everyday using a spray bottle and well water. I only fertilized once in almost a year, I don't think it needs it. I have changed the moss a few times to keep it fresh. They are not fussy about repotting. I don't think a cover would be good for this plant, no air circulation. My leaves are getting bigger and I should soon have flowers again.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Good job. Has yours grown any new growths? I keep looking at mine and nothing happening on that front. My new blooms opened that it came with and I have not lost any more leaves. I do have one that has some spots on it but it seems to be just staying as is for now. I don't have to water mine very often as it seems to stay moist. I like that as I have to many I have to water too often.

The bulb that was opened when it came has now lost 2 of it's 3 blooms. All in all I think it is happy.

---------- Post added at 09:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:50 AM ----------

Originally Posted by estación seca

I got one too, in bloom. I put it in my coolest room, the back bathroom, under a skylight. The air conditioning vent in that room can't be closed, and I keep the door shut so the dogs don't fight over who gets to sleep in the bathtub.

I put it into a large glass jar at night to increase humidity, but I see people here suggest that's not necessary, so I'm going to stop doing this. There are some dead spots on some of the leaves. The plant looked immaculate on arrival. I don't want the closed air to rot the leaves. It spent 5 days in a dark box with FedEx, which is longer than I expected.

It arrived in sphagnum. I removed it from the pot without disturbing the root ball. Everything looks good down below, so I left it as is. The sphagnum stays moist for many days, so I haven't been watering it that much. The moss on top is green and fresh. Does this seem appropriate?

By the way, IOSPE shows it comes from Vanuatu. I found this:

Vanuatu Climate

I did re-pot in fresh spagh and it didn't miss a beat.