Dendrobium laevifolium - Orchid Board

isurus79 · #1 06-23-2018, 11:18 PM

Growing inside under lights. This one is in bark and probably never fully dries out.

Dendrobium laevifolium by Stephen Van Kampen-Lewis, on Flickr

Dollythehun · #2 06-24-2018, 06:25 AM

I think I might give up, mine is leafless but trying to push new growth. I'm using the same conditions as you, Steve. Sigh.

isurus79 · #3 06-24-2018, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

I think I might give up, mine is leafless but trying to push new growth. I'm using the same conditions as you, Steve. Sigh.

I just took in a rescue that sounds just like yours. I potted it differently. The bottom half of the pot epiweb and the top half is spag. The pot sits in a shallow dish of water so there will always be humidity at the roots. I'll eventually repot the blooming Dend in this thread this same way.

Dollythehun · #4 06-24-2018, 08:26 PM

I don't like to appear stupid but, what is epi web and what could you substitute? Synthic? Mine's in pure spaghnum and a clay pot but, always moist. Bright light...

camille1585 · #5 06-25-2018, 05:34 AM

What a beautiful little plant!

I've always wanted this species, but since I've heard it can be a bit difficult and it also happens to be hard to find here, I settled on a hybrid of it, called Den. Hibiki (bracteosum x laevifolium). It's supposed to be easier (tolerant of a wider range of temperatures) and also bloom like crazy. I got it in February and struggled with it at first, but discovered that I was giving it too much light and too little water.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

I don't like to appear stupid but, what is epi web and what could you substitute? Synthic? Mine's in pure spaghnum and a clay pot but, always moist. Bright light...

EpiWeb was developed by a company in Europe as a synthetic and sustainable substitute for tree fern. It doesn't hold water so it's good for plants that need frequent watering but without staying soggy (often used for mounts). So epiweb cubes at the bottom of a pot are mostly used for drainage, though I won't speak to how it works in Steve's case.

Dollythehun · #6 06-25-2018, 06:08 AM

Mine was in an east window. It bloomed profusely, and lost all it's leaves. I moved it to higher light. It's now at the end of an LED, about 6-8" away. It's trying to push new growth, but not successfully. I've heard it was easy but, this doesn't seem to be my case. I recently repotted in moss and saw that it only had it's original root system. No new roots. I vote for difficult. What does it want?

isurus79 · #7 06-25-2018, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camille1585

EpiWeb was developed by a company in Europe as a synthetic and sustainable substitute for tree fern. It doesn't hold water so it's good for plants that need frequent watering but without staying soggy (often used for mounts). So epiweb cubes at the bottom of a pot are mostly used for drainage, though I won't speak to how it works in Steve's case.

Sounds about right! The rescue plant (not the one in this thread) sits in a shallow water dish to keep humidity around the roots high. However, the moss is held above the waterline by the Epiweb. We'll see if this technique works.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

Mine was in an east window. It bloomed profusely, and lost all it's leaves. I moved it to higher light. It's now at the end of an LED, about 6-8" away. It's trying to push new growth, but not successfully. I've heard it was easy but, this doesn't seem to be my case. I recently repotted in moss and saw that it only had it's original root system. No new roots. I vote for difficult. What does it want?

I've got mine a few inches from the LED!