Mounting Dendrobium lindleyi in low humidity?
 

I have a Dendrobium lindleyi (a.k.a. aggregatum var. majus) that I rescued and I was curious about mounting it. The thing is I have low humidity ranging from 46%-60%, usually around 50%. I grow under T5 lights and put the D. lindleyi by a south window in winter for the resting period. With such low humidity should I even consider mounting?

I had a little cattleya once that died from not having enough water on a mount. I have really good air movement and when I mist my orchids their leaves and flowers totally dry of the mist in 10 minutes or less. I had it mounted on cork with a little sphag covering its roots.

Advice?

46-60 is not low humidity. I'm gonna guess you'll be fine.

My conditions are dryer than yours - 20's and 30's in summer.
I mounted mine on a cedar plank. It took quite a while to adapt but it now does very well. (partly because I didn't know what I was doing)

I give it a daily soaking during the growing season and the usual dry winter.

Maureen

Although it is a reasonable good Humidity I must ask what are the "Temperatures" that you will be dealing with?

The higher the temp, the more humidity the plant may require (according to what I have been reading). Basically with high temps the plants will obviousley dry out faster. Lower temps can allow certain orchids to survive a lower humidity level.

All about the balance :)

I know I could manage mounted orchids outside during summer with temps in the 80s usually and humidity never lower than 75%. The high summer humidity is due to planting of tons of crops around us and transpiration. My temps inside under lights are 78F-83F day and 63F-70F night. And what would the best material to mount on?

And how dry of winter mounted? Totally bone dry, not a drop of water? Or just a little water every 2-4 weeks or so?

Most "Resting" orchids seem to like a bit of a misting in the morning, but not necessarily every day - it is very much dependant on the Species.

Cork is apparently a good mount for soaking purposes and I have found maponi wood, with a groved/ridged side also makes a nice mounting material (Untreated and well washed from any contaminents)

Check out these two links for particulars on your species. You may need to reduce the winter temperature further (Below 60F) to enable it to flower for the next season.

Dendrobium lindleyi | The Wisconsin Master Gardener Program (This link advices no watering during rest period unless pseudobulbs become overly shrivelled)

http://www.aos.org/Default.aspx?id=416 (At the bottom of this page, your species is mentioned)

Hope this helps!
(I am eager to see how you get on with this!)

The temps I mention above are under lights temps. The window temperatures are around 63F-70F.

These temps are the lowest I can get here at my house. And I can't open a window, got in trouble for that. :) I do have a friend's house that has a section that stays around 38F-40F. This seems a litte too cold. I could keep it at 63F-70F day time and put it in the fridge which is 40F and 60% humidity. Advice?

I agree with some of the others who've responded to your post in that the plant should probably do just fine since that's not (for me anyway) what I would call low humidity (and the range of fluctuating humidity could even be beneficial to your plants since it should encourage them to adapt). Have you tried (or do you have) Rhyncholaelia digbyana? It would perform very well on a mount in the set-up you've described (as long as you give it lots of light). Might be a good candidate to add to your collection.

Steve

Should say that since starting this thread I got a cool mist humidifier and increased the humidity to 60% to 70% never going below 60%. I'm less nervous about mounting it now. I'm just waiting for it to tell me: "I'm growing and ready now!" I really love Brassavola cucullata and plan on getting one soonish. Rhyncholaelia digbyana is interesting too. Is it fragrant?

For what it's worth: Mine spends the winter on a southfacing windowsill that gets full sun all day. The temp during that time is in the 70's . At night, the house never goes below
65 but next to the window it is probably closer to 60.

I stopped weekly watering the first of Nov. I misted once or twice a month (if I thought about it). The bulbs are very shriveled.
I started a light weekly watering mid Jan. I have 5 spikes starting.

I am going to try another area that is colder next year since I'm running out of room on the windowsill.


Maureen