Dendrobium speciosum grandiflorum 'white'

[Dollythehun]

I picked up two bag babies yesterday. I've looked online for facts about this Dendrobium speciosum. Information is all over the place, from medium height to wheelbarrow size. Care instructions seem to be mostly for Australia and California. Is anyone growing this? Any idea about the size? And of course care?

[Roberta]

Well, the good news is that they grow slowly. The bad news is that this is one of the varieties that can get big. (var. grandiflorum and var. hillii are the big ones. var. speciosum is medium-sized, var. curvicaule is smaller) The good part, grandiflorum tends to grow more vertically, hillii spreads out more. So the footprint can stay manageable. My grandiflorum has canes about 3' tall, an inch in diameter, there are about 6 or 7 of them, and it's in an 8" clay pot. It blooms every year - so it's mature. It will be fine in that pot for a long time - they like to be potbound, eventually will send roots vertically to make a "birds nest". They are pretty tough(down to near frost, up into triple digits F with just a little shade), but you'll need to bring it in for the winter, of course. Care is pretty similar to a Cymbidium, except that they don't need as much water.

They are quite slow to get to flowering size. so you'll need patience. Reminds me of an experience I had when I was very new to orchid growing. I got a small Den. speciosum at a show, then a few weeks later went to the Santa Barbara Show, where best-in-show was a Den. speciosum var. hillii that was about 9 ft across, with some 400 spikes, and thousands of flowers. (I pity the poor AOS clerks who had the job of counting them...) My reaction was "OMG, I think I just bought a St. Bernard puppy... I live in a condo!!!" However, it didn't grow that well for me... in fact I nearly lost it and that one is still pretty small many years later. However, after I ditched the condo for a house with a yard, I have acquired others - which are still nowhere close in size to that monster. But they sure put on a gorgeous show in the spring. Check out http://orchidcentral.org/Images/Dend...andiflorum.jpg, http://orchidcentral.org/Images/Dend...0speciosum.jpg

[Dollythehun]

So, coarse potting medium, clay pot, fertilize like a cymb during growing season, semi dry ( no fertilizer,) winter rest. Sounds like D. Spectabile. Please define "medium size."

[Roberta]

Similar in size and growth habit to spectabile, but much more cold-tolerant (I won't have spectabile, GH isn't big enough) If it behaves like mine, it won't need more than an 8" pot for many years (now of course it doesn't need that yet) I just added some notes on dimensions of my plant to previous post. Also, it doesn't need as much light as a Cym, bright dappled light is more like it.

var. speciosum tends to spread out more - canes can be quite mature at 1' to 18", mine is in a 10" bulb pan and extends out from that, as opposed to 3' for grandiflorum. Grandiflorum, being more vertical, can give you more plant (and flowers) for the footprint.

---------- Post added at 07:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:35 PM ----------

I also don't worry about "rest" for Den speciosum... mine get watered and fertilized with everybody else all winter, and they bloom well. Other Dens, like nobile-type and lindleyi (aggregatum) are a lot pickier about reduced water and no fertilizer in winter. Den speciosum and kingianum and relatives truly don't seem to care.

[estación seca]

Our Lowes don't get bag babies. They do have Christmas decorations on sale.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Our Lowes don't get bag babies. They do have Christmas decorations on sale.

I have never seen them in any Lowes I have ever been to. Well it is Wyoming I guess.

Carol what a nice find. How long do the blooms on these last. I have 2 Aussie hybrids, one is blooming now and while I do like it the blooms don't last very long. The other one has only bloomed once and they did seem to last longer. Just curious.

[Dollythehun]

We'll have to ask Roberta. Mine is only in a 4" pot. But I guess they can get huge. Maybe Roberta can chime in again...

[Roberta]

The flowers don't last long on any of these, alas... One has to enjoy them in the moment. For the hybrids, most stay reasonable in size (5" or 6" pot or smaller) If they have Den speciosum in their background, it increases the flower count but can make for the larger end of the range. Speciosum itself can get huge... if one waits long enough. The hybrids are much better-behaved. As they get larger (more canes) the bloom time increases because all of the spikes don't open at once. Individual flowers still don't last long, but if they open over several weeks, the net effect is that the plant is in bloom for that long.

---------- Post added at 10:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:53 AM ----------

They will also rebloom on old canes for multiple years (even after leaves are lost). So as new growths emerge, the display gets better.

[estación seca]

This is a great page for Dendrobium speciosum:
TheRockLilyMan – You've found the home page of Gerry Walsh

[Dollythehun]

Yeah, I looked at that. He has a wicked sense of humor too.