Dendrobium Angel Kisses

[estación seca]

Well, it started to make over a dozen new growths. A few days later I came home and looked at it... they were all gone. Not withered, gone. The plant rapidly declined and died after that.

I suspect a rat or ground squirrel. I had rodent damage to some plants, of course the most expensive/rarest ones, and a some died after what looked like just a few bites.

[Pattywack]

estacion seca I'm so sorry to see this! I would be very upset to have birds or animals destroy my plants. Your Dendrobium was beautiful, hope you are able to replace it.

[Salixx]

That's devastating. I would be heartbroken to have lost such a beautiful plant. I'm so sorry

[estación seca]

Carter & Holmes seems to be out of them. They were in stock for over a year.

[u bada]

Yes, it's so sad. Tough thing about gardening in general, but certainly with orchids... you can have a plant do so well and then all of sudden something happens and it's, well, gone.

But certainly with gardening, the amount of variables you're up against is so stacked against you... (I recommend reading the back Second nature by Michael Pollan), that to be a truly good gardener you simply have to accept change.

I myself have lost quite a few plants this year from this or that, slugs, ants, heat, rot, etc that were otherwise doing astonishingly well... my sympathies.

but here's to opportunities to get yet another plant!

[Pattywack]

Maybe Carter & Holmes still has some that are not on their website. I know Andy's pulls his when he has less than 20 plants or 25? Give them a call, worth a shot.

I honestly have not lost/killed many plants except a few last winter that needed more water than I provided. I hated that too. Al of Al's orchids has a cute suggestion, he says you should keep a small pot and add the tags of the plants you've lost or killed. I assume that is to encourage you to be a better orchid keeper or a way to shame yourself.

Good luck with your search!

[Dollythehun]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Helene! You can bloom small Dendrobiums in your home.

From my reading, there are a lot of Dendrobium species and hybrids that do not require cooling to bloom well. Some of these species need a reduction in winter watering, and others can be receive the same culture all year.

Hybridizers are aiming for small plants that bloom several times a year, and do not require cooling. Many of these hybrids are small plants that fit easily on windowsills. One group of such hybrids has ancestors in the Latouria and Formosae sections of Dendrobium; another has only Formosae section species as ancestors; another group has D. moniliforme and D. nobile ancestry.

D. aberrans and spectabile are small and very large members of section Latouria. Latourias generally prefer even conditions all year with no temperature change, and not much change in watering frequency. Many of the hybrids bloom throughout the year. Some hybrids are very large plants, but others are quite small. D. Microchip is one such hybrid. Many Latouria species and hybrids are fragrant.

Formosae section species such as D. formosum, lowii and tobaense are sometimes said to be challenging to grow, but their hybrids are said to be easy to grow. A lot of Formosae and their hybrids are fragrant.

My plant has D. moniliforme and D. nobile in its ancestry. The aim is to produce nobile style flowering without a cooling requirement, and many of these hybrids have lost the cooling requirement. They tend to bloom multiple times per year. Some are large plants, but there are others that bloom when small, like mine.

Everybody has room for D. laevifolium, a miniature that can bloom several times per year. Wintergirl taught me how to grow it here. Mine is making new growths now.

And light requirements? I have latouria "Little Atro" which blooms for me and a spectabile which hasn't. But the first orchid I killed was a nobile and I don't have a cold bright spot. Suggest...

[gngrhill]

Sorry you lost your beautiful plant. I know the pain of losing.. My debacle of 114 degree day did in all my oncidiums and my special little encyclia that had put up 5 new growths this spring.

[u bada]

Originally Posted by Pattywack

I honestly have not lost/killed many plants except a few last winter that needed more water than I provided. I hated that too. Al of Al's orchids has a cute suggestion, he says you should keep a small pot and add the tags of the plants you've lost or killed. I assume that is to encourage you to be a better orchid keeper or a way to shame yourself.

almost all the best growers of any group of plants I've ever known has in one way or another said that the most experienced gardeners/ growers have often killed the most plants in their lifetime... LOL

You should never shame yourself to be a better orchid grower or any plant grower... so much is out of your hands and it's really about celebrating plant life in all it's forms no matter what I'll have to ask my friend who know's Al what he meant by that... I'm sure he meant so you can keep track of what not to try growing... for the third time LOL

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by Pattywack

Al of Al's orchids has a cute suggestion, he says you should keep a small pot and add the tags of the plants you've lost or killed.

Over the course of my life? I'd need a forklift to move that label container.