Help! Identifying these orchids I've saved! - Orchid Board

kjennings94 · #1 01-21-2014, 02:19 AM

Hello, i am new to this site. I'm from Townsville, QLD

I have some orchid, that i have saved, which have grown babies but i do not know what they are and how to care for them properly! I assume that two are dendrobiums and one is a cymbidium :/

Help would be greatly appreciated

Cym Ladye · #2 01-22-2014, 01:29 PM

Your plants will have to bloom before any real ID can even be attempted. Even then, the chances of an ID are next to nil unless it is a true species. Just bring them back to health and enjoy your efforts when they do bloom,

CL

RandomGemini · #3 01-22-2014, 01:48 PM

I agree though, the first two are dendrobiums. That last one could be just about anything. I have an oncidium that grew a new pbulb that looked just like that as it was developing.

kjennings94 · #4 01-22-2014, 05:49 PM

Hello everyone,

Thank you for your answers! I had no clue that you could not tell the species from the keikis. I thought they would have a telltale sign :?

One more question. Do you agree tyhat it may be 2 or 3 years before they may flower?

Cheers!

Aussie42 · #5 01-22-2014, 07:07 PM

You never know how long it may take plants to flower - it could be a couple of years or it may be sooner. The old canes on the dendrobiums may flower sooner than expected once the plants are happy.

I'm going to stick my neck out here and call the third one a Cym - the pseudobulbs seem quite familiar. We have 3 (I think) native cyms here in Aus, it doesn't look like Cym suave so when it flowers, look up Cym madidum first, just in case.

Cheers,
Aus.

kjennings94 · #6 01-23-2014, 12:38 AM

I probably should have mentioned!!!
My grandmother told me that the flowers of the "cymbidium" were yellow and that she couldn't remember if they had brown in the centre or not.

Cheers!

---------- Post added at 11:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:34 PM ----------

Thank you wise orchid-ites! I hope that I can care for my orchids as well as you guys!

WhiteRabbit · #7 01-23-2014, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjennings94

Hello everyone,

Thank you for your answers! I had no clue that you could not tell the species from the keikis. I thought they would have a telltale sign :?

One more question. Do you agree tyhat it may be 2 or 3 years before they may flower?

Cheers!

Your orchids have new growth from the rhizome rather than keikis.

There are so many Dendrobium and Cymbidium species and hybrids, that even seeing the blooms, it may be impossible to identify. If they are species, it is more likely to be able to I.D. by the flower - but it's very likely they are hybrids.

It's impossible to I.d. beyond genus or alliance by only the plant growth.

How soon they may be able to bloom depends on how healthy and how big the plants are ...

Aussie42 · #8 01-23-2014, 06:56 PM

Just an explanation of why I don't think I'm insane on the third one...and I know it's a huge stretch to say "Google madidum when it flowers".

In Townsville commercial Cym's wouldn't usually flower without special treatment (ice, ice water etc) in Jan/Feb. Aloe-leafed and native cyms would flower without special treatment. (I am assuming there has been no special treatment and it flowers.) It's not an aloe-leaf, so it's very possibly a native.

Grandmother? I also was lucky enough to get some of my grandmother's orchids and they included natives she'd had for decades. Again, grandmothers sometimes equal natives.

Madidum is not uncommon around Townsville or far North Queensland. It looks too big for suave and canaliculatum is less common than madidum. So far as I know those are our only three native Aussie Cyms.

Yellow flowers - with or without brown spots - fits too. If they're small, perfumed and fairly plentiful.

It'll be easy enough to check once it blooms but I thought it worth making the madidum suggestion to keep in mind for later.

Of course, I may be crazy.

Cheers,
Aus.