help me save this dendrobium nobile
 

hello, new member/beginner living in Finland here. i desperately need some rescue advice for a dendrobium nobile. the owner for whom i bought the orchid as a present last year in april, has a habit of watering her plants too seldom. when she does water her orchids, she prepares a deep bowl with rainwater and fertilizer and leaves each orchid in the bath for up to an hour.

in june the two canes were already shrivelled halfway up but at the same time two new healthy-looking canes at the base had appeared so i did not see any reason for concern. come winter, however, one of the new canes has turned dark olive and fallen over. i believe it was rotten through and cut it off. it had been kept on the east window all of autumn and winter.

an inspection of the roots shows much white dried dead-looking bunches but others also firm and alive. the potting material is a combination of bark but mostly fine peat-like material; much of it has white mold at the top and sides but not inside the "rootball". in the last two weeks i have only watered it twice without soaking.

combined with the roots, the look and feel of the bigger canes worry me. as for the remaining new cane, i think it is also rotten through, the top third is firm and green but the middle section has begun to hollow out.

in panic i have already removed the orchid from the pot and loosened the potting mix to let the roots dry out a little.

i would really like to try and save this poor thing and would appreciate all the advice i can get.

winter skies,
djuna

Hm. I've got a few different dendrobiums, and I have them in a West facing window to get maximum winter sunlight (they won't be there come spring/summer due to too much direct light) but...I would say you're on the right track by removing it from the medium it was in. Try something coarser and maybe use some fungicide to get rid of that issue, repotting it will probably help. If you've got good roots I would expect that it will be shooting out a new cane. Other people will add in I'm sure.

Goodluck.

To me it looked somewhat over-potted and the pot should have very good drainage as well. It looks ceramic to me. I like clay or plastic with lots of holes. Other than that I would do what the previous poster said. These are fairly high light plants although not direct or it might burn. It should start putting out some new growth soon.

I have a nobile den. I am not quite sure how often you are watering. It is winter in Finland right now you basically should only be watering so the canes don't shrivel. Misting and heavy watering only when necessary in the winter. The roots are not actively growing right now and you will rot them. If you have heavy watered them 2 times in the last week you are asking for rot. I don't know if they are too far past. I would cut off the top portion that hasn't rotted and try for sphagg and bag method to try for some new growth, there are many links here on how to do it. As for the remaining canes I would just mist them until I saw some growth. Also look up the culture requirements for dens there's lots of information on this site. I would not repot anymore do some reading and if you have any questions just ask. Just remember different areas of the world requiresments may differ alot as to mix and watering requirements. But there are some basics that don't very that much. Goodluck

Cheryl

This it the time of year that Den. nobile should look like that. They need a dry winter rest (most say from Halloween to Valentines Day) and much cooler temps to initiate blooming on the new cane. They really resent repotting so if you do be prepared for it to sulk for a good long while.

I got rid of my nobiles a long time ago because I just couldn't stand the dead stick look they have most of the time. ;)

My nobile hasn't lots it's leaves I think it depends on the type. It's bloomed 3x this year. The rotted canes I'm worried about and the too big pot (forgot to mention) But I'm afraid to tell her to do another re-pot as they don't like being disturbed as it is. I think she's over-watering.

Cheryl

hello again, thank you so much for the replies.

the "dead stick look" is indeed something one has to get used to and exactly what stacked the deck against me as i had no way of knowing whether or not the plant was indeed getting enough water so as not to shrivel as it already had been since june.

after all the advice i've received today, i am going to give the plant some time to recover from the stress of having its potting mix shaken off. i will not attempt to repot it just yet. it is now sitting in its original plastic pot with what little of the moist bark pieces it is clinging to. tomorrow i will get some sphagnum moss and put a little bit of that at the bottom of the pot. the remaining new cane i have cut off and dusted the cut ends with cinnamon. i will attempt the sphag and bag method with it.

if all goes well, i shall repot these into a smaller-sized terracotta pot.

if i have missed anything, do let me know.

thanks again.

These plants don't typically grow new roots from old canes. New root growth would have come from the new canes. Since both of those have been removed you may have to wait until the plant sends up a new cane before you see new root growth. I'm not sure sphag n bag will work or only make it rot faster. If it were my plant I would leave it alone for now. It's dormant this time of year so it's not going to grow anything until spring.

then i shall leave the old canes as they are with a wee bit of moss for moisture, until they are rested enough to be repotted.

and how would you apply "leave it alone" to the cut new canes? if the rotten parts are removed and the rest is intact (about 2 inches of it remains), might i just sphag it and forego the bagging for much later?

I seem to get white fuzzy mold whenever I try sphag n bag altho some have luck with it. Just make sure the bag is open and lots of air getting to it or you could forget about the bag and keep the moss slightly damp. Using some kelp (seaweed) in the water form both old and new piece could help stimulate roots. Often found at hydroponics stores.