new to dens!! help
 

Hello,

About 2 1/2 weeks ago I bought two on the sale rack at lowes.

One was 5$ and it has A big cane and 3 smaller ones. The big one had a spike but browned and i cut it down.
I first had them planted it sprgm moss but this week felt it was too wet so I put them in mix of fir bark, hardwood charcoal, and coarse perlite. (also had a tag that said dendrobium 44-08/#67 world cup no2)

The other was 3.50$ and has one big spike and one smaller one. The big one had a spike but also browned and I cut it off.

So could someone help me with them thank you very much




...... the 2nd pic the lil cane leaf has turned yellow. last three pics are phals just wanted to see there progress.

Can you show some pics of them. That will help us know what care they need.

Dendrobiums are a very large genus and their care can vary widly so one of the first things is to try and identify which group of dendrobiums it first in to (which is where a pic would help).

There is a general care sheet for dendrobiums here.

Dendrobium - Orchid Board

But one of the key things is to work out if they need a winter rest or not.

I would but my camara is kind of broken right now!

I got some info from reading other posts. it is a phal type because the shoot comes form the top. Thats about it!

ok these are them 2 of them are the dendrobiums. the other two are phals i got as well.... so please help!!!

pictures are from when I purchased them!!

Well I'm not an expert but to me the two dens look a bit like hybrids of Dendrobium Phalenopsis. (This is not to be confused with the Genus of Phalenopsis.)

If I'm right then they need general care similar to the Genus of Phal but with brighter light and they DON'T need a winter rest. Take a look at the link I gave before for general care tips on Dendrobium.

For the Phals take a look at this care sheet.

Phalaenopsis - Orchid Board

Generally speeking they both want temps arround standard house temps. Both of them can be watered when the medium dries out. The Phals likes enough light but not direct light. I have mine in an east facing window and they seem to do well. The Dens like brighter light, I have mine in a west facing window.

:goodluck:

The Phal in picture #7 in the first post looks like it is potted just a little too deep in that Sphag moss. I would try and ease the crown up above the moss a bit more so you don't end up with crown rot. The rest look fine.

Help
 

Without a compass how do i know the facing windows. All my windows are on one side of the apartment. Right now its about 2pm and the sun is fully shinning on the opposite side of my apartment. I am in full shade. I think later on in the evening we get the sun shining on our side.

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. You should be able to orient yourself that way.

Well then, I guess I have west facing windows in my apartment not one east facing one. So what do I do with the Dens now will they get enough sunlight

The Dens are best of in the west so put them in the windowledge.

The Phals probably want to be kept back from the window but still with some light reaching them. They want indirect light so if all you have is west windows don't put them directly in that. Having said that over the winter they may be alright in the window.

I think I made a mistake I think all my windows are east facing with small ledges and no other furniture pieces to mount them on... I think Ill just keep them in the living room tables where my patio door brings some light in the morning and the lights on the tables in the evening.


With my phals I was fairly disappointed alot of the roots were getting mushy on the one that is blooming. It now has no roots.

The other one some aerial roots and I was wondering what was that hollow thing growing straight up?

With the dens I cut some of the ugly leaves off, one of them is kind of stripy towards the inside? Why is this?

Thanks everyone for your inputs

Sorry to hear that, BUT not is all lost. I got two from the neighbor across the street that had no roots. I managed to keep them alive for most of a year by keeping the root portion - bottom section where there were roots - in water. I suspended the plant using a stick (like a popsickel stick) and a tie (like for a garbage sack). One died so I decided drastic action was needed to save the other. It had several leaves so I sacrificed one by pulling it off so it would expose clean fresh "flesh" on which I put Rootone a growth hormone. It took a long time but now I have new roots and leaves.
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...mbs/Rescue.JPG
The note is one I added so Janine would know what it was. (She is the secretary that got me started in orchid.)

Im quite confused aout putting it in water wouldnt it rot? well what I did with my phals for now is suspended them in the pot and put styrofoam on the bottom of the pot and mixed sprgm moss and styrofoam for medium so its not too wet and not too dry....i hope this works!!

I have no idea what type of windows i have?? all I know is when I wake up the sun is shinning on the opp side of my building and all through the day... so I give up with the sun.. Ill just use my lamps!!

If the sun never shines directly though your windows then you may have north facing windows. Not optimal for orchid growing. Grow lights should vastly improve things.

Thanks for that disappointing news... I have a big patio door and i do have lamps so Im guessing that should be enough

No, not necessarily, rot, or the bacteria that causes it, needs air. If you have ever had a wood fence or something held up with a wood post, what you would find is that the post rots the MOST a few inches above and below the ground line. That is because that is the region that cycles between wet and dry. Below a few inches it will stay wet and above and few inches it will dry out too fast for the bacteria to proliferate well. If you go to the beach you will see this same effect on piers, etc. where the wood that is submerged and that well above the water line is solid and rots very slowly when it does. But at the water line the most decay and rot occurs.

When I use the "put the roots in water" technique, I remove all the dead roots and fiber I can so there is less for any rot to live on. Then I watch the water level to keep it as constant as I can. Putting a cover over the container will keep the moisture in and water level constant. I try to keep any leaves out of the water but on orchids like a dendrobium where the stalk is devoid of leaves, I will allow the lower part of the stalk to stay in the water.

I have rooted woody hibiscus, figs and even got a rose to root this way once. So that is how I came to try this on my orchids. Given that orchids do not like to "have their feet wet", I do this mostly to orchids that have NO roots - after all they will die anyway with no roots - so desperate measures for desperate situations. Once I get a big enough root system, I will then pot it. I currently have two phalenopsis that lost all but one root. I have them still potted BUT they get special treatment. Every AM and PM I mist the leaves top and bottom so they are wet just to the point of dripping. keeping water out of the crown (top where the top leaves start). If they fail to respond, then they will get the "in the water" treatment.:evil: