Den Hawaii Spectacular (Den Big Alex x Den Spectabile)

[Jeff214]

Velvet blooms with a bit of curling.

Latourias are my favorite type of orchid so far - perhaps because it grows so well in my home. Den roy tokunaga and little atro spikes for me year to year.

While I have two den spectabile, a dwarf variety and an unspecified cross with 'self'... they never bloom for me.

I also have a den hawaii stripes, which I was told was a latouria hybrid. It looks more or less like a den phal. It's still a seedling and a few years to go before it blooms.

I can't take credit for the blooms since I bought it in spike. The ebay seller did a great job!

[fishmom]

Pretty! How big is the plant?

You don't say how long you have had your Den. spectabile, but I found that mine didn't bloom until the pseudobulbs were 10-12 inches tall. It took a while!

[Jeff214]

the Den Hawaii spectacular psuedobulbs are about 10 - 12" tall. It has a nice red tinge to them too.

My Den spectabile is about 8" at its tallest. I think it's about blooming size...? The dwarf variety has been at 3" for the last 6 psuedobulbs (~20 total). I have no idea what to think about this small one!

Do you have photos of your den spectabile? I never get tired of them. Actually, I never thought about growing orchids until I saw a spectabile online (and victoria-reginae for that matter).

[fishmom]

I've never heard of a dwarf spectabile, but of course that doesn't mean it doesn't exist!

Here are a couple of pictures of my own plant. It has since gone to orchid heaven, but it was nice for a while.
At the time it was blooming, the bulbs themselves were 10 inches long, with leaves extending above that.

[Jeff214]

thanks for the pics, very nice!
sorry to hear that it's longer with you.

I don't know if it's a dwarf or not, but it's labeled as 'shorty' x ' hoosier' from H&R, bought as a bagged orchid from Lowe's. And as it's name suggests, it hasn't gotten taller than 3" in the last two years. I've gotten at least 15 new growths since then, and all have been under 3" or so. Maybe it's that it has a longer juvenile phase? Maybe it's just my wishful thinking that it's an actual dwarf.

[estación seca]

I've read people are breeding Dendrobium spectabile down in size so more people can grow it. I don't know how small they are at blooming size.

[fishmom]

Wow, I'd like to fine one of the short ones! The big ones take plenty of light to bloom, that may be a factor with your plant. Fifteen new growths sounds pretty vigorous; have you tried upping the light?

[KonaLady]

Wow! I Like it - it is like a Latouria with color. Here is my spectabile. It is very large - the tallest cane is over 20 inches. They are so bizarre.

20160717_170828 by Jo Beth E, on Flickr

[AJW]

What a cracker Konalady

[Tindomul]

Very interesting and cool pics!