The Six Horticultural Groups of Dendrobium

[Zabeta]

Hi everyone,

I found this site really helpful (many of the links mentioned earlier in the thread no longer exist):

http://www.staugorchidsociety.org/PD...yJoshJones.pdf

But I'm still confused about which groups Den. unicum and Den. anceps belong to. Any ideas?

Thanks!

[estación seca]

The "six groups" idea is a method of simplifying cultivation suggestions for hobbyists wanting to grow Dens. Reality is a lot more complicated. There are Dens that don't fit into any of those six groups well, and there are lots of people growing some Dens just fine using instructions from the "wrong" group. Some Dens are picky about a cool winter rest, so pay attention to that.

D. unicum is a good example. People grow it many different ways with flowering success. You can search Orchid Board for threads about both species in your question, and there is also information on both in IOSPE

[Zabeta]

That's very helpful, thank you so much!

[gingersmommy]

Originally Posted by hosshead

Here's my BIG den.;


The whole thing;


And, for size comparison, with a full sized Smooth Fox Terrier placed adjacently,(and who wasn't particularly thrilled with participating);



So how do you guys get those cool film-strippy looking dealies on there?

Wow; big plant, little pot!

Hi honey!!! (fox terrier).

[Dollythehun]

Yeh, that's scary big. Rats.

[Regelian]

Although Estacion Seca has tried to make it clear, that the six divisions listed by Rebecca Northern are simply insufficient, let me chime in by mentioning that the book from which the categories come was published in 1990! It is a re-working of a work of considerably greater age (E.A. Schelpe). Now, I do not wish to degrade these works, as they are generally excellent references, but they are quite outdated, due to the massive influx of new species, countless hybrids and new collection sites of many of the Dendrobium species. There is, also, quite a bit of revision in the genus Sections, which further confuses the issue.

Of the six cultural sections mentioned, only 1 and 2 make any current sense, as they refer to very general groups of deciduous Dendrobium, which are largely close relatives. A species, such as D. bellatulum, which is considered a cool grower, is only one of many Formosae (nigrohirsute) Dendrobium and they cover the entire temeperature range from very warm (dearei, many hybrids ) to very cold (longicornu, etc.). The only generalization is they prefer not to be completely dry.
We have many new species in Calcarifera available, which have an equally wide temperature range and, interestingly, although deciduous, are more like the Formosae, as the first cultural group.
In other words, take the cultural sections with the proverbial grain-of-salt. Aaaand, post your successes, failures (Never easy!) and questions on the forum, so we can all learn from them.
Jamie

[birdbrain]

So I got that I have a "type 1" nobile dendrobium. I only know phals which seem to doing good. How does there needs vary? I have no idea on how to even water. I read that you water with warm water? That doesn't work when I've only watered my phals with ice cubes. Yikes

[Dollythehun]

Dendrobium Orchid Care

[estación seca]

I haven't before seen the site Dollythehun linked to. Most of the information there is wrong, in my opinion. It might be suitable for some of the coolest parts of the US.

A nobile type in active growth must not dry out, or the newest growth will probably die. Most people probably would need to water nearly every day during warm weather. Once a week is not going to be enough unless you live someplace very cool, like Seattle or San Francisco. Water temperature doesn't matter at all, though I wouldn't use cold water from the refrigerator. Den nobiles tolerate very much higher summer temperatures than this site suggests. They do require cool and sunny winters to flower well.

Edit June 15 2020:
Yamamoto Dendrobiums in Japan hybridizes and produces a great number of these plants. Their Web site formerly had excellent growing information for hobbyists. Unfortunately it is no longer there. You can still look at the varieties they grow, and maybe see one very similar to yours.

I saved the page, and summarized it in a post in this thread:
Uncertain if Dendrobium is still alive

Yamamoto now has a page showing how to force Dendrobium nobile for Christmas flowering in Japan's climate. There is a lot to learn from that page, but it is intended for growers who can artificially heat and cool their greenhouses during off seasons. Note they use coconut husk for growing medium, which many orchidists would say retains too much water for orchids. For many orchids that is correct, but this is a very thirsty orchid.

[Dollythehun]

Someone linked to that site, which may have expired? Since the OP is new, I was trying to keep it very simple. Basics, basically.