Dendrobium ID? - Orchid Board

Nitsuj · #1 01-09-2021, 02:25 PM

Hello! New to the forum and just now getting serious about orchids! I purchased this orchid from a show in Florida in 2012 and it was labeled as a Dendrobium Yellow Song 'Canary'. Had no idea what I was doing and it bloomed. But since then it has started going downhill. I realized it was a nobile type and needed a dry winter rest. So that's what I have been doing this winter. But I stumbled upon some pics of it in bloom from years ago and now I am not so sure it is a nobile type, maybe a Phalaenopsis type Demdrobium? Any thoughts on its ID and care would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

Orchidtinkerer · #2 01-09-2021, 03:09 PM

yes that is not a nobile, its a hard cane dendrobium or a den phal - it will hate the cold.

Also giving den nobiles a dry winter rest is a false conception and not a practice everybdy does!

So it should not be taken as the standard thing to do, it does not encourage flowering as is often believed.

In winter plants drink less, if you carry on watering the same amount as before the plant will get waterlogged and start rotting - this does not mean you should keep it bone dry instead either.

It means you keep the pot at the same moisture level as before - I weigh my pots to help me judge this - in winter watering then gets reduced as the plants drink less but never keep a nobile bone dry. It will cause leaves to drop and just stress the plant out.

Stress can cause flowering but it is not something to aim for.

Aim for a healthy happy plant

Nitsuj · #3 01-09-2021, 03:54 PM

Thank you so much for your response and confirming my suspicions! I will definitely modify my care. Hopefully it’s not too far gone and will recover.

aliceinwl · #4 01-09-2021, 06:57 PM

I agree it’s a Dendrobium phalaenopsis type. I keep mine warm and bright and watered year round. I try to never let it completely dry out and water whenever the substrate gets to the barely damp state. No seasonal changes in care.

I kept mine outside with my Dendrobium nobile types for a couple years, but it did not tolerate the cold well.

Maybe there’s some variability with Dendrobium nobile types but mine grow like weeds if they’re watered through the winter (no rot), but I don’t get flowers unless I keep them dry too: I only water if I see wrinkles on the canes in the winter.