dendrobium kingianum
 

i got this den. from a friend. i know NOTHING about it. he told me that they are hard to et to bloom. is this true? i looked up some culture pages and got some good info, except non really said how much light they like.

any tips or experiences are welcome :)

ps. i know its not big enough to bloom :lol:

cool and slightly dry in winter I believe - mine hasn't yet bloomed tho ...
tho I wouldn't recommend "dry" for babies - probably best to just let them approach dry in-between watering

okay, thanks! do you know exactly how cool?

SBOE has a good culture sheet here: Growing Guides from Santa Barbara Orchid Estate
It's the one that is linked on their kingianum page.

I just got mine to bloom! Den kingianum 'Roy'
They are small plants. Mine is in a 2.5" pot.

I will try to find the link for Wilford Neptune's culture sheet for kingianum especially useful for people growing in New England

For a baby like that I usually skip the cool dry winter so that the plants keep growing and are a good size to bloom the following year. In a year a little keiki like that can put out quite a few new growths.

Then the key to getting them to bloom is to keep them in bright light in the winter (ie, full sun at our chilly latitudes), temperature around 40°F, and water only every 3-4 weeks. My problem is that I have nowhere cool enough for all my kingianums. Last year I managed to keep them outside in the sun until late november and ended up with 1 spike. Better than nothing, but I'm trying to find a solution for this winter.

what zone is that camille?

cneos, i already found that page! lol, im reading it right now :)

thanks for the link izzie

and connie, that is one of the cutest kingi's i saw!

The zone I live in? No idea, but the climate in the winter is similar to new england (ie, COLD!), except that we don't really get all that much snow.

oh, okay. i was wondering, to see if i can use the same months as you

Leaving it out until november was exceptional, because usually it freezes at night much sooner than that (mid october). We had a very warm fall last year, which is why the winter resting dens and the cyms stayed out that long.

Some friends of mine here in CO have had success with putting theirs out in their garage at night, if it is one that is insulated enough to keep from freezing. (mine is bare bones, and does great)

i dont have a garage, but thanks :)

thanks camile!! that helps alot

Mature kingis (not your babies) can take short periods (like a couple/few hours over night) near freezing temps .
I'm not sure how low you want to expose the babies to tho.

ill just bring them in at 45 then

They're not hard to bloom. They bloom when you give them a dry rest period during the cooler months.

They're also lithophytes that grow on granite or sandstone.

They can take it down to 36 F.

Bright indirect light prompts them bloom as well.

Yours won't bloom any time soon. It'll take a few years for yours to become blooming sized. If anything you'll end up with a gigantic mass of plants.

They're ridiculously easy to grow here in Southern California.

These originate from Australia.

Common name: Pink Rock Orchid.

thanks! but i thought i shouldnt let them get down that low until they are bigger

I think Philip was just giving you basic kingianum culture - they are quite hardy - but I wouldn't subject the babies to that low temp. I don't expect they will be large enough to bloom next year, so wouldn't worry too much about the cool period anyway at this point

okay, thats what i thought. thank you philip and rosie and everyone else!

kingianum can tolerate short periods of low temps - this helps to induce flowering; see Wilford Neptune article on dendrobium kingianum cutlure on many oublic websites.

i already read neptunes article, and thanks you very much!

I would skip the cool dry rest entirely for this year that way the keiki can keep growing and building strength over the winter. Even with a rest you won't get any blooms, so you might as well let it use the time to grow instead.

i agree, its way too small to bloom

dendrobium kingianum
 

FYI, if anyone needs to know what their zone hardiness is just type in: USDA plant hardiness zone map+your state.
In this case I used NY for Camille. :)
Beverly A.

I'm in the USA for less than 5 months and returning home to europe in a few weeks, so the US zones don't really apply to my orchids. I did find the hardiness zones for France, and I would on the borderline between zones 7 and 8.

Since we are on the topic - how long before a kingi keiki may be 'bloom size'? I have a couple I left on the parent plant - they are a little over a year old - there seems to be nodes swelling on them ...

How tall is it? And is it the short or tall variety?

G'day folks
Kingianum , was the first orchid that i ever bloomed , and sent me of on a step sprial down the orchid road ,(which was only last year)
Here in melbourne ,where i live , i have a basic shade house , 50% all round ,inculding roof ,with a clear poly roof , outside temps range from winter of 35F and frosts , to summer temps 104F , they flower real easy ,grow in bark ,coconut husk ,on mounts , very strong orchid ! I have some similar size kiekis out in shade house ,and only water once every 2 to 3 weeks over winter ,but in summer every day pending on heat , they are growing well
Andree

really? you give the little ones a rest too? or not as severe of a rest, but a rest

Mine is the 'short' variety - keikis are maybe 2" ... actually not much 'shorter' than the parent canes they are growing on I think ...

mine are about 1 3/4 inches

Here's an article from the Australia Native Plant Society that gives a decent write-up.
Dendrobium kingianum

I really like the photo of the plant on the rock in the backyard.

Being a lithophyte, mine are thriving in semi-hydro althought they are too young to bloom yet.

Cheers.
Jim

check this article from OB... Flowering Techniques for Dendrobium kingianum - Orchid Board since I follow the cold and "dry" rule, I get this plant blooming every year and have no keikis! (except once when I started watering too early, then I only had keikis and not a single flower)

Yes I do give them a rest ! Over winter it's quite damp where I live , most of my plants get a rest over winter , only give a light watering say every ten days to plants in pots smaller then four inch , and any thing larger every two weeks ! Maybe longer ! Right now I have my first CYM with flowers out ,and den are all showing spikes or with one or two close to flowering , and still another month or so for spring to arrive !!! :D I am no expert , only been into orchids for a year or so ! But it works for me ???

They should bloom soon. Probably next spring.

cool - that's what I was hoping - like I said - there are nodes swelling, so hoping for spikes rather than more keikis lol

Give it the cool and dry winter rest, and it'll bloom.

If it's too warm, it'll make keikis.

cool - I mean to leave it outside during winter - do they want a good deal of light in winter?

for my kingianum, "cool" means around 40F (5°C), which is actually very cold...

okay, but again, you wouldnt expose it to the cool, or the rest period until it is larger, correct?

i thought the adults could handle down to 36 F