My first dendrobium! What do I do??
 

Hi! I’ve just bought my first dendrobium and I have no idea what I’m doing! I promised I would wait till I got my brassia to bloom but… it was so pretty! The canes feel form, if a little wrinkled, and the roots looked healthy. It did decide to have a couple buds die once it got home as you can see but I can live with that provided it’s just mistreatment from prior care not a dying plant. I know there’s a ton of dendrobiums out there so I guess my first question is which one did I buy? After that, if I read correctly this is a keep damp but not wet, moderate light, high humidity, and a good drop in temp in the winter. Does that sound right? Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

Congratulations on your first Den! Did it happen to come with a tag? Sometimes they can even be buried down in the mix. Having a tag will greatly help you to be able to identify see what the parents are and therefore see what kind of culture and temperature it needs. It's absolutely gorgeous! I don't think I could have passed it up either 🙂

Thanks! No tag unfortunately. I don’t think I’ve ever managed to get a grocery store orchid with a tag.

It is a "phalaenopsis-type" Dendrobium (den-phal) It has nothing to do with Phalaenopsis, just got the name since one of the dominant ancestors of this type is Dendrobium phalaenopsis, more correctly known as Den. biggibum. These like Phalaenopsis temperatures (on the warm side) but much more light. They do not not have a "rest period", need to be watered all year long, kept a bit damp but not soggy.

That is really pretty!

I think the above advice is quite good. I have my Phal-type Dendrobiums in red lava rock so I can water frequently and not have to worry about the roots rotting. The roots need plenty of air and, as some Phal-type Dendrobiums resent having their roots disturbed, they should only be potted in new medium when there is new growth. Once happily established, many of them will be in bloom most of the year, even on old, leafless but green canes. They do like warm conditions...I sometimes think that the hybrid Phals found in grocery/big box stores are more tolerant of cold than these.

If you grow your orchids in a window in a place with dreary winters, orchids sometimes do not use water as quickly and so it might be best to let the medium (if bark) completely dry before watering again.

Good luck!

I have one den phal which I bought from orchid show and it was in bloom when I bought it, potted in bark, lots of roots came out of the pot. I had reported it in lava rock after the bloom dropped and recently started keeping some water in pot dish. It's doing good got lots of new roots and two new growths, also surprised its old roots are also doing good as I am using a transparent pot with multiple ventilation holes it's easy to monitor the root growth.

Wondering how long it takes to get a flower spike to new growth, they are grown around 4-5 inches, still smaller than the old one and still growing, but just curious :)

Patience, patience... New bloom spike once a year maybe... while it's getting adjusted, could miss a year. It sounds like it is doing well. With good growth and good roots, flowers likely eventually.

Thanks Roberta.

I am being little impatience :). I am sure I am going to enjoy once get flower spike as the last bloom stayed for almost 5-6 weeks.

This type of Den. fully matures a growth, then flowers from that growth. Sometimes older growths can flower, too.

Red lava rock… I hadn’t thought of just potting in lava rock but that’s such a good idea! I might try that with my brassia too. I’ve been struggling with root rot while still managing to underwater and get wrinkled pseudobulbs. Thanks Leafmite and aparnamane! Does it need to be small rocks only? I have small black volcanic rock. Would that work? Do I mix it with anything?

It sounds like I’ve managed to get a very manageable den so I’m very happy! I had read that some varieties can be pretty difficult. As far as light goes, are they more in line with a cymbidium?