Dendrobium loddigesii
 

Greetings -
This one is cute and fragrant; it can be problematic to flower sometimes. I'm suspecting that it likes a bit of water in the winter.
Regards - Nancy

Nancy, that's fantastic!!!
Mine bloomed yesterday ...so far 2 blooms open and 2 more buds. I can't figure out why a plant scrambling across a 12" plaque would give so few blooms.

What lighting do you keep yours in? It's lovely!

Sensational coloring! :)

Hi Suzanne - mine pouted for a couple of years after I put it on a new mount - 3 flowers last year, a couple the year before. Though last year it grew like mad.
Next year should be your year!
Nancy

i like it a lot. good growing!

That is the type of bloom Im hoping for from my plants. I have mounted them all within the past year or two and they have pouted ever since, however, my largest has started to show excellent growth. How dry do you keep it over the winter? Are we talking anosmum dormancy or less harsh?

Thanks Nancy :)

From your mouth to the Orchid God's ears... :crossfing

Hi Steve -
I tried the anosmum-dry routine for a few years with poor results. I believe that this plant is not deciduous!
I do keep it somewhat drier, and don't fertilize at all, but don't let it get shriveled-dry, and water regularly, but less.
Most species dendrobiums, I give dappled sun during the growing season, and much brighter light in winter, because I have read that they tend to grow in/on deciduous trees, so would get nearly full sun in winter in "the wild."
Regards - Nancy

:bowing Thanks for the advise!!:biggrin: I have definitely been wondering what tips I needed with my loddigesi's and I think I may have them now!! :banana: :banana:

Den loddigesii
 

This is incredible flowering for your loddigesii! Whatever you're doing, you're doing it right. While spectacular itself last year, my loddigesii had only four flowers this year. I need to know your secret!

Ooh that's lovely!

How sweet it is...just got one today and doing a bit of research before I repot. Yet another pouty :( one added to my collection. Arrived leggie and with roots everywhere. I myself will not pout when it produces minimal blooms...patience=Dendrobium loddigesii :biggrin:

In April 2008, I pouted that my loddigesii had only 4 flowers ... however ... it has continued to bloom with several more flowers since. There haven't been more than two at a time, but it's still been a nice display. And the legs are getting established around the mount so I am hopeful of more flowers in the next year.

GreatThread!
 

I've just bought a tiny one of these, and it arrived with 2 flowers about 1.5cm across, which have now dropped off - great to see them, though. It's mounted on a piece of branch about 1.5" thick and 5-6" long, and my instinct is to set it on top of a pot. If it's going to grow, it will need a lot more room than it's got now. My other thought was to nail it onto a small cut-off stump, but that could be more of a problem with watering. Right now I feel it looks a bit pale compared with some of the photos on the net. I could take a photo in the morning. Has anyone any thoughts?
Patricia

Patricia,

Mine is also pretty pale. I bought in the spring last year and it's hardly grown or done anything (there was a tiny bit of growth late in the year).

I'm not sure if pale is OK or not. I think I want to mount mine as well and see if it does better that way.

Den loddigesii photo
 

Rosie,
Here is how it looks this morning. The dark green round the middle is the cloth binding.

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...loddigesii.jpg

Hmmmm, Patricia, you sure this is loddigesii? All the specimens of this species I have seen (including mine) has very spidery, think canes. Yours are pretty thick to my eyes.

Oooh!
 

Oh dear Steve, all I know is that it was sold to me as Den loddigesii and the flowers that were on it when it arrived by post, though a little withered, looked similar to these - see http://tinyurl.com/33nu2wm It's one of the first images that come up when you google it, and the flower color is about right.

You never know with some of these orchids! Your plant could just be a bit thicker than mine and I've made you worry for nothing! Hopefully that is the case. Part of the fun with these guys is the anticipation of the flowers though. :biggrin:

YEAAA
 

I agree - and the learning and sharing process. When I had some nice orchids a few years back, there was a stall on the roadside on my 35km drive to work, run by a major orchid exporter and I bought plants in flower from there. I'm a bit more isolated now and I have to use internet buying - usually small plants that have some way to go before flowering. Not so much "instant gratification" - but still exciting to research them on the net and find out what their potential is! So I'm a real beginner. Thank you for sharing with me.
Patricia

I'm afraid I can't see your picture. Mine is also thin and spidery as Steve as suggested, but the one in your links looks fatter so it could just vary.

Trap for young players - I altered the name of the Album yesterday so I could put other things in it. Silly me! I'll try the new link:

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...loddigesii.jpg

mmm, looks similar colour to mine, which I think could be a better green. The canes look a little thick but I think it could still be the right thing.

I'm planning on mounting mine on EpiWeb (similar to Ecoweb). Sue said previously that she found this one never did well for her on a standard mount, but just seemed to love Tree Fern. I can't find the link to that comment, but this one shows her's doing well on Tree Fern. http://www.orchidboard.com/community...html#post47346
EpiWeb/Ecoweb is a good substitute for Tree Fern, from what I've been reading recently and Nenella grows her loddigesii on it with good success.

Orchid Board runs a couple of projects a year, where everyone taking part buys the same orchid and compares notes. In the spring we got Den lodiggesii. The project discussion thread has pics of both mine (which has hardly changed since the spring), but also of interest to me at the momment is Nenella's which is growing well on EpiWeb. http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ject-cool.html

Anyway, that's my current plan to thy and improve the health of mine (going to wait till the spring to do the mounting.

Thank you Rosie
 

This is great information!!! Actually, I have ad lib Tree Fern here. It grows on my property and I've got a few stumps in my new "nursery garden" under the Norfolk Island Pine, though you cant see them all here:

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ade-garden.jpg

If I run out of Tree Fern stumps and logs, I can just go up into the bush above my house and search for some fallen ferns.

It is spring/early summer here - maybe I need to do some research into how to take baby plants off mounts ... Freaky!

Many thanks for this help.

Sure looks like a loddigesii from the size and proportions of leaf to cane. I find with mine that the pseudobulbs vary in proportion somewhat from growth to growth, probably having to do with how much light and water they get while actively growing.

The color of yours looks fine to me. The yellowing leaves are part of the natural seasonal cycle of this orchid, which for me always loses every leaf on a growth within a year or two. The new growth is nice and green and looks plenty healthy. Once the plant gets bigger it'll have the energy reserves to put out more new growths at a time, so you'll see kind of a 'snowball' effect in the growth habit.

Good luck, this is a wonderful species! :)

--Nat

Woah...is that giant tree trunk next to the fence the Norfolk Island Pine you refer to? That must be a gorgeous tree, do you have any pictures of it from afar?

--Nat

Wiil Do
 

Not a good day for taking photos yesterday, Nat - but I will get one!

I went up into the forest yesterday and found myself a couple of old treefern stumps. Would one of these be suitable? I guess I have to soak both the stump and the existing mount before attempting a remount??? Challenges, challenges ....

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ern-stumps.jpg

I'm missing something ... I can't see the flower in your photo.

My loddigesii has thin, wiry canes that stay close to the cork mount that it's on. Cane on your plant looks more robust.

Can you post photo of flower from your plant?

Thanks! I like Norfolk Pines a lot, but I've never seen a big one in person.

Those treefern stumps look like they'll work great. They've got other plants growing on them so they're probably not toxic to oher epiphytes. That's cool that those grow in the woods near your home!

--Nat

Norfolk Island Pine
 

Still having probs with the weather today, but here's a photo I took awhile back of a Norfolk Island Pine planted alongside the road on the coast just north of here that shows the shape of them even better. This is how they should look - but has been a bit trimmed lower right because of the road.

I don't want to post off-topic pics, so if you go to my Epidendrums Album at Orchid Board - Most Complete Orchid Forum on the web ! you'll see it.

Well I sure hope after this I can make a success of growing this plant -I am beginning to see Dendrobiums are not easy!! I have put up for you 2 photos in my Epidendrums album - one is of the treeferns growing on my place (20 + feet high, this lot), and the other is where I live, showing the forest above my house, where I gathered the stumps. Thought you might be interested.
Patricia

My Apologies
 

I'm sorry - this is a young plant I just bought, and though it had a couple of flowers on it when it arrived by mail, they dropped off fairly quickly. They were close in color and shape to this pic for Dendrobium loddigesii on Google Images: http://tinyurl.com/33nu2wm

To be honest I'm not sure what I would do with a tree fern stump. I would try and cut a flat-ish piece arround the right size for the plant (a bit bigger to allow growth). I've seen it sold as plaques which can then be mounted on, I wonder if a slice accross it would work.

Can I be Part of This?
 

Rosie, am I able to officially join this Dendrobium loddigesii experimental group, or am I too late??
Patricia

Most of the activity on this project is probably over (it was never as active as some of the projects anyway). Generally the idea is that everyone starts together. It's not up to me as I was not running the project, however I would personally have no objections to you posting on the thread (here).

Look out for our next project, which is likely to be in the spring. Details and sign up sheets with be posted in this area, and you can also see previous project threads there as well.

Thanks for the pictures, Patricia! Your land looks beautiful, do you ever hike up to that hill above your house? Really liking the Norfolk Island Pine, too, I wish we had warm enough winters for them where I live...

Depending on the size of those stumps, you should be able to mount your plant directly on one with no further modification. Den. loddigesii is a vigorous grower with a scrambling/vining habit so a big mount is not a bad idea. One of the nicest ones I've seen was totally covering an 18" x 30" treefern plaque and had a few hundred blooms (it smelled great!).

When I mount plants on treefern I usually put a small pad of sphagnum underneath the plant and then tie everything on with fishing line (coated wire, sturdy twine, and old pantyhose also work well). You can also tie the sphagnum on first and then the plant over top to simplify. If you water a lot or your humidity is really high you may not need the sphagnum, and once the plant has its roots into the treefern it probably won't need the sphag anymore.

This species is overall pretty forgiving to grow, though maybe a little trickier to bloom well. If your outdoor temps don't go much below 35-40 F/2-5 C you should be able to keep it outside year-round, which will help it flower better.

Generally you should water and fertilize fairly heavily during the warm months, then reduce water and eliminate fertilizer when it's cooler. Or just water and fertilize when the plant is in active growth and switch to winter care when the canes mature and leaves begin to drop. If you plan to grow this one indoors try to give it a month or two of night temps below 55 F/13 C to stimulate bud production.

Bright light a bit shy of full sun is beneficial at all times, though when it's very warm make sure air movement and moisture are high so the plant doesn't overheat. Hope it grows well for you, this is one of my favorite species! :)

--Nat