Shaping Dendrobiums (and other orchids) as They Grow
 

Hello!

I am curious what methods are used to shape orchids as they grow. For example: I have a dendrobium that has a new stalk (since I purchased the plant) that's quite large, but it doesn't have the lovely curve upwards that dendrobiums have when store-bought. How do they do it!? My new stalk grows out to the side, when store-bought orchids curve gracefully up. What's the deal? (I'm new to this!).

Also, I have a phalenopsis whose top leaf would colapse in between waterings as it grew larger and would expand after waterings. Now that it's even larger, it has remained colapsed and flopped forward. I believe the plant is moist enough, so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

Thank you for all your help!

It all has to do with light and the direction of the light. Growers have light coming from top (in greenhouse) - I suspect yours is from side (window). Fear not, the blossoms will be be OK.

Right on Ross, the direction of light is the factor here. I move my orchids around every week to keep them from spreading their wings wildly:biggrin:

Okay, that makes sense for the dendrobiums. Thanks for the information.

Do you think the light is also the culprit for the phal's colapsed leaf? From the time I bought this orchid, the top of the plant was tilting in one direction. I intentionally turned this side AWAY from the direction of the sunlight, in hopes that it might grow up straight. It hasn't... it became more of an issue because the top leaf colapsed instead. The leaf looks healthy (firm, shiny, with good color) otherwise.

It is natural for a Phal to grow toward the side. Mine all do it. It's how they grow in the wild. As long as the middle leaf is firm I'd say you don't have a problem. Brenda

I rotate the pots on my dendros when they have new growth. By changing their orientation to the light the new canes will grow more or less straight. Once the cane hardens you can't change it's orientation.