Den. Kingianum Question
 

Hi,

My husband and I have a den. Kingianum (as per the ID tag) Steve X Star KB.

This plant is growing kiki's (Spelling is wrong!) all over the place as well as 2 new shoots in the bottom.

We have noticed that the plant is starting to develop a few yellow leaves and we are unsure of what we are doing wrong! (The growths continue to grow!).

We live in LAngley, BC CAnada
The plant is in a bright, sunlit window.
We mist the plant regularly.

Thoughts?

Pics attached!

Thanks!

Dlkc

Den. kingianum is a species that naturally occurs from Australia. It is primarily a lithophyte and rarely an epiphyte. They have a large range of temperature tolerance. These guys prefer to be on the cooler side, but I wouldn't go any lower than 30 F (- 1C). The warmest they can tolerate is 113 F (45 C). They can grow in very bright indirect light to full sun.

Give them a brief dry 3 month rest period with cool temperatures, and they will bloom in the spring.

Your plant is labeled the way it is because there are two plants of Dendrobium kingianum involved in the breeding to produce your Den kingianum. Namely they are Den. kingianum 'Steve' and Den. kingianum 'Star KB'.

Here are a few links to someone's Flickr account showing how they grow lithophytically (their primary way of growing):

Dendrobium kingianum | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Dendrobium kingianum | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Dendrobium kingianum | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

This link is to someone's Flickr account and shows how they might be growing "epiphytically":

Dendrobium kingianum | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Thanks! We will attempt a rest period!

Danielle

They do shed old foliage - not sure if that's what's happening with yours - is it occurring on older growths only? I don't mist mine, other than spritzing keiki roots on occasion - it can be quite dry here in summer, and the spritzing doesn't actually seem to do me any good :p

From my experience, and what I have read, it isn't so much a dry period, but cooler temps in fall, winter that are needed for blooming, tho drier than summer - just keep mine from drying out entirely. Likes a fair amount of water in summer (again, can be quite dry here in summer)


After struggling with mine, trying to grow it in coconut husk chips, I changed to a mix of pumice and perlite, being as King said, primarily a lithophyte, and it's really done well for me that way.

Is this plant growing where it is in the pic? If so, it could be reaching for the light (looks spindly to me, but kingis can have a fair amount of variation, so it might be normal for yours - idk)

If you are able, you might try growing it outdoors as much as possible - mine has done very well outside - I realize you can't have it out all year, but it's good til night temps are down in the 30s F

Attachment 57403
This is my Dend. Kingianum. This plant had just been divided from a huge plant. They love the sun, naturally grown in Queensland on rocks etc. Can withstand very high heat and temps. no lower than 10cel. Give your Dend. plenty more sun (indirect). Get rid of the saucer from your pot. If you must use a saucer, put pebbles in the bottom. Withhold fertilizer in your fall and winter. Water sparingly, maybe once a fortnight during this time. In Spring, recommence your fertilizing and watering once a week. I hope this helps.

I second Queenslander's suggestions, get that pot up out of the saucer, too much moisture can rot the roots. It can't hurt to tip the plant out of the pot to inspect the roots, they should be white with green tips, the medium needs to be open. Cool, dry and maximum winter sun to encourage flowering.

Kingis produce keiki's freely (at the expense of flower spikes), so absolutely no nitrogen for them in autumn and winter.

I assume you mean 1 degree celcius (not 10). Mine have gone down to to -2 oC in winter with no noticeble damage.

mine too, has gone down to freezing at night - due to it having spikes (but no buds) at the time, I did make sure it was sheltered - when we had another few cold nights later (possibly getting to freezing), it had buds, so I moved it into the garage to be safe ;)

Den. kingianum can be one of the most hardy of orchids, even bettering Cymbidiums. Don't pamper them. Mine are outside in Northern California all year, rain or shine, 27 F to 100 F, full sun or 50% shade and grow and bloom profusely. I do not dry off in the winter and the only time they are put under cover is to protect the buds as they open when I want to use the plants in show displays in the spring.

I definitely agree with no saucers and getting yours outside in bright light for as long a seasonal period as possible.

CL

Correct. Typo. I was trying to find the degree symbol on my keyboard.