The Six Horticultural Groups of Dendrobium

[kinknstein]

Awesome, thanks again for your help s. kalllima!! Fingers are crossed!!

[nynighthawk]

Originally Posted by s.kallima

Kinknstein, when I wrote no water, I meant very little, but you should give a bit of water if the canes from this year start shriveling. And a little spray from time to time does not hurt.
As for the temperatures, around 50 seem to be ok too..
Here are more info on this species:

http://www.orchidboard.com/node?page...e&pagenumber=4
Dendrobium kingianum -- pink rock orchid
New Hampshire Orchid Society - Dendrobium kingianum

Thanks soooo much for the info on den. kingianum. I was scanning this thread and a couple of others looking for exactly this info about rest and flowering cycles.

I got two den. kingianums this spring. I've never grown them before, but have always loved seeing them and thought I'd give them a try.

They are mounted on cork slabs with a little sphagnum moss.

Currently, they are in my growing room (actually, it's my laundry room which is semi-heated...getting down to the low 50's at night) which has been fine for the cymbidiums that I've been successful with. They are in the window but it's not a south window, so I suspect that they could use a little more supplemental light.

They were outside during the summer and fall and did well. One plant put up a nice fat new growth, the other was stable, but static until a couple of weeks ago when it also put up a new growth.

Anyhoooo to cut to the chase. From what I've been seeing, I think I might have messed up the plants' rest/flowring period. The sphagnum dries out so quickly and gets rock hard, that I've been watering these little guys when their pseudobulbs have started to shrivel a bit...about every 4-5 days...well maybe 5+ days. The plants look very healthy and one, that was moping during the summer, has started putting up a new growth. But no flower spikes.

So my question is....am I too late to get back on schedule? If I stop watering (or, as you suggest, just cut back severely) do I stand a chance of getting any flowers this season? or should I just assume that I'm out of luck this year, continue watering and try to encourage additional new growths to enlarge the plants?

I would like to repot these little guys into a mix other than the mounts/spagnum. Since one of the plants is actively putting out a new growth, could I do that now, or wait until later in the spring?

BTW...is a bark-like mix preferable to mounting for these fellas? I see from my research that they tend to grow on rocks and in litter, so I'm thinking that a mounted plant is not ideal.

I'd appreciate any help on this, since I love these little guys and think I am not treating them as well as they deserve.

[dendro photo]

Is there a site with pictures of the main charictoistics of each group due to the fact I dont know the names of some of my dens.

[kavanaru]

Bryan, since each group can be quite diverse (until certain extent) it would be easier if you post photos of your plants here in OB, and let the other members help you identifying them... If they are hybrids, in most cases it will not be possible to identify the exact name of the hibrid, but it will at least help to get the right advice for their culture!

[dendro photo]

Originally Posted by kavanaru

Bryan, since each group can be quite diverse (until certain extent) it would be easier if you post photos of your plants here in OB, and let the other members help you identifying them... If they are hybrids, in most cases it will not be possible to identify the exact name of the hibrid, but it will at least help to get the right advice for their culture!

thanks i will put them in the den section and it will be tomorrow i hope

[culpina]

Thank you for all the information you posted. I have a dendrobium atroviolaceum var. compactum. Can you tell me what type of environment it prefers? We live in the Northeast and the indoor temperature naturally goes up in the fall and winter. I spray it lightly every morning, but I don't know how often it should be watered. I want to be careful since I tend to overwater. Thank you. I will be looking for your response and/or that of anyone who could help me.
Culpina

Originally Posted by Ross

As classified by Rebecca Tyson Northern, there are 6 groupings that describe the differences in growing needs of Dendrobiums. I am paraphrasing to avoid copyright infringement.

Type I (deciduous, so-called nobile type) intermediate to warm in summer, cool to cold in winter, full winter rest. Examples: D. nobile, D. chrysanthum, D. wardianum.

Type II (deciduous) intermediate to warm all year, full winter rest. Examples: D. speciosum, D. aggregatum, D. findlayanum, D. heterocarpum, D. superbum (anosmum), D. parishii, D. pierardii.

Type III (persistent) intermediate to warm summer, cool in winter, no winter rest - simply reduce water. Examples: D. densiflorum, D. fimbriatum, D. thyrsiflorum, D. farmeri.

Type IV (persistent) cool all year. Short suspension of water early autumn. Examples: D. bellatulum, D. secundum.

Type V (persistent) Intermediate all year. No rest. Examples: D. antilope and hybrids of type V and type VI.

Type VI (persistent) warm growing all year. Restrict water twice during year. Examples: D. phalaenopsis, D. bigibbum, D. superbiens.

Now, I have little personal success with any, except type II, so I can't help with culture on the others (I kill them more often not not - or they just up and die ) but deciduous type II are said to be the easiest for in-house culture, if one follows their needs strictly. I've found this to be true for D. anosmum. Hope this helps others.

[kavanaru]

Cupina, Den. atroviolaceum is a Latouria Dendrobium. You should gorw it similar to Spatulata (Type V). You should however reduce a bit watering is kept cooler duringwinter, but never let it dry out for too long.

[CTB]

Helpful thread, Thanks for sharing!

[cday2inflorida]

WOW!! How did I miss this sticky for so long. Excellent read.

[peeweelovesbooks]

excellent thread! thank you.