Dendrobium findlayanum
 

Dendrobium findlayanum

I had one of these when in AK.
It was one of my favorites.
It had a 3" flower, but no fragrance.
I really liked the "Witch's Knuckle" shaped PBs.
I've wanted another ever since.
01 Scan00018__Old

I had developed into a "Species Snob".
I kept very few, if any, hybrids until I began mounting them around my yard here in HI.
Hybrids seem to be more forgiving than species for this.
Plus, species are hard to find here.
Hybrids are much more available because of the number of commercial growers and the lust of the buyers for anything they can get their hands on.
I did say that I was a Species Snob.
Obviously, I still am.

I would attend the Hilo Orchid Shows mainly looking for available species, rarely finding any.
At the last Hilo orchid Show, 3 years ago if I remember right, I ran across a display that had a nunbwer of D. findlayanum seedlings in pots.
I very rarely buy seedlings.
But, I wll if I want it bad enough, and that's all I can get.
Being very Dend. species greedy, I chose one that had a large clump of smaller seedlings in it, going for quantity rather than quality, willing to wait for them to grow.
It looked as if someone had planted from compotes, gotten tired of it, an had stuck the last handful of small ones into the final pot.

I have hopes that I may see the first flowers this coming spring/summer.
But, they still look a bit small.
We'll see.
The pic the seller had looked similar to this, with much darker coloring, a very dark throat and claimed fragrance, sucked me right in.
02 findlay_1___NEW

So, I want to replant all these as soon as they begin to show signs of starting new growth, by spring/summer, separating them and spreading them out to give them room to grow, probably spread them out on a larger 12" raft.
I think I know how I want to do it, but I'm open to thoughts and ideas.
03 - D.findlayanum Seedlings

My Den. collection is fairly recent but a findlayanum I acquired is a small, mounted one that seems to be doing ok. Witches knuckles couldn't be more descriptive! Attractive on orchids but not on the hands.

@ DeaC
Good to hear yours looks to be doing well, gives me more hope for how mine will do.

I said that I'd had these for 3 years.
Looking at the seedling pic, I'm thinking it may be only 2 years.
They're still quite small with only a few old dried up stems.
It does seem like I've had them forever.
But, the orchid shows were in June, and the epidemic began about June of this year.
It's possible only 1 has been cancelled.
Time passes slowly when you're waiting on something.

To say I buy seedlings rarely is a misstatement.
This is the only time I have ever bought seedlings is more correct.

The 6" raft they're on has been laying on a flat concrete stepping stone for a long time.
Their roots have grown through the mount and are tightly attached to the stone.
It can hardly be moved at all.
They're going to have to be scraped loose from the stone, impossible to not do damage to them.
But, by the time new growth begins with new roots forming, the old ones may begin dying anyway.
Maybe not much of a problem [?].

As I look around at available D. findlayanums, all seem to be of the "occulatum" variety, with the stronger coloring and dark centers.
It also looks as if they have a smaller flower size too, maybe 2" or less.
I'm beginning to worry that there may be some trade offs to this.
More coloring would be nice.
But, smaller size would be a negative.

I'll be tempted to mount them in moss on the mount like the seedlings are, but worry if it might be too moist for maturing plants.
They'll still need a fair amount of rain water, but seedling can be more forgiving.

I like those pseudobulbs. They're very distinctive. And the blooms are, it should probably go without saying, outstanding too.