Den species leafless for a long time

[u bada]

Thanks for the input you guys!

Well, I've changed things over a course of a month or 2, so not too much at once. All but two are subjected to outdoor conditions so they get the varying light durations.

Originally Posted by Subrosa

Maybe lamyaiae? I've had one almost 2 years, and out of all that time it's had leaves maybe 6-8 months. It grows new leaves for me in the spring, tried to flower this past summer but blasted and by fall was bare again.

thanks for sharing your experience... I had a feeling also that maybe this is just how these dens behave.

Unlike many other plants, orchids can be so slow to react to things. a bit frustrating! but as they say patience is a virtue...

[u bada]

So i add canned salmon to my eggs in the morning sometimes (no fancy food for me!) and last night I dreamed that I saw a opened can of salmon in the cupboard and thought omg it's probably gone bad and why haven't I smelled anything... and opened the lid and there was my den christyanum sprouting new growths all over it, and moist sphag was at the bottom of the can! think it's a sign?

anyway, thought I'd follow up... I talked to the guy at Phrao orchids about den. bellatulum, christyanum, and lamyaiae and he basically said yeah those can take a long long time to establish or recuperate from a stress... and contrary to another grower who said they can handle low temps, he (phrao) said they can lose all their leaves when it gets too cold and is slow to resprout... so this winter I guess I'll have to take them inside, albeit kept drier, in a cold window perhaps...

as for the two in the cases, just soaked them in kelp extract and hoping for the best. Saw a new growth on the parvulum, which is entirely hard to find and difficult to grow, cleaned off the moss and letting it air a little...

[gngrhill]

My aberrans lost it's leaves last summer and is still naked. No sign of doing anything. I still water and fertilize and have increased the light. PBs are green, but completely naked.

[u bada]

thought I'd follow up again, if for anybody, for the lurkers...

The christyanum started two new growths. The biggibum has a new growth. I water them more often now.

The thaionanthum kicked the bucket, the parvulum will probably kicked the bucket... those two I'm pretty sure couldn't handle the heat from last summer/fall.

The lamyaiae is still pretty much the same.

[fishmom]

Hurray for the new growths! I have been inspecting my aggregatum daily for a sprout--nothing yet.

[No-Pro-mwa]

I'd get them some fish fertilizer I don't have any of those Dens but I do have a laevifolium and it had 2 leaves on it's new growth but just lost the one so now it only has one leaf. It is going to bloom however.

I also got 2 of the Aussie ones in Dec. so I will see how they do for me. I'm just getting into Dens.

[estación seca]

Earlier this year, Fred Clarke posted more detailed growing information on growing the Aussie Dens he sells. It's in the cultural section at SVO.

[epiphyte78]

Dendrobium bigibbum grows great outside year around for me. It loves heat so I try and give it full direct sun. I probably have more than a dozen... all mounted without any moss.

The rest I've killed. Except for the ones that I predicted that I would kill. Which is around half of them.

By far my favorite leafless Den is Dendrobium lituiflorum. My second favorite leafless Den I picked up as Dendrobium loddigesii from the Huntington. Somewhat surprisingly it was being grown by the folks in charge of the desert plants. And it's definitely not loddigesii. I guess it's Dendrobium aphyllum but it's sure a much better grower than the other aphyllums that I've tried. Interestingly enough it's growing in pumice and it seems to love the stuff. The Huntington grows most of their cactus/succulents in pretty much pure pumice. The Den had several keikis on it... and I was planning on attaching them to my trees but then some visitors spotted them and I figured I could always use a good dose of garden karma.

It's actually just starting to bloom now... and I really should cross it with my lituiflorum which is just starting to bud. Maybe I'll e-mail Trager (the guy in charge of the desert plants at the Huntington) and see if he would be interested in flasking the seeds. I could also see if he's interested in flasking the nearly ripe pod on my Dendrobium bigibbum. The pollen came from a Dendrobium canaliculatum. At the last SBOE show I went to I picked up a $7.50 Tetramicra canaliculata to give to Trager. A few years ago I gave him Tetramicra elegans and last time I checked it was pretty happy. So figured I'd give him canaliculata as well. I stuck it in pumice, put it in full sun and it quickly put out two new shoots and a spike. When it blooms I'll give it to him. My secret mission to infiltrate the Huntington's desert collection with lots of orchids is working... very slowly. In 1000 years their entire desert collection will consist entirely of orchids.

[No-Pro-mwa]

You better leave some other plants or the orchids won't have anything to grow on

[u bada]

thanks epiphyte78 for your foray into outside orchid growing out here... i've been looking through your flickr, really alive experimental growing spaces! Maybe I'll bug you to come over and get a tour... Would be great to see in person and you're just a hop skip away...

The grower said biggibum prefers temps above 60 even in winter... but good to know I can grow outside. Thankfully i'll be able to leave most of my warm growers outside now without worry.

I heard den. canaliculuata can be pretty happy without too much effort outside here... and I've been eyeing the tetramicra for a while, also another worth trying if they do well for you... I love dens in general, but shy away from larger growers for fear the entirety of their long canes need humidity... but if lituiflorum can handle lower humidity, I'm totally down to try that one too...

I love orchids mounted without sphag or anything, just the roots forming patterns on the wood... pretty amazing just to look at...