Dend. Micro Chip care?
 

Hi all, I just got a compot of these from a seller on eBay and they look great, but I'm not 100% sure what kind of media I should pot them up in and how much water they usually need. Can anyone help me out?

Thank you!

This is what I found:
Dendrobium Micro Chip (3 inch pot blooming size)

Yeah I had seen that already but other than "well draining" it doesn't really say much about the mix, like is it fine or coarse?

Den Micro Chip will have fairly fine roots. I would use fine fir bark based mix with a fair amount of charcoal and/or pumice for drainage. But it should be adaptable to a wide range of media if you match your watering to balance the moisture. Use a fairly small pot for the size of the plant.

To clarify, Micro Chip is normanbyense x aberrans The International Orchid Register / RHS Gardening ; Aussie's Chip is atroviolaceum x aberrans The International Orchid Register / RHS Gardening

They do appear almost identical (at least the Micro Chip I saw at a show was almost identical to my Aussie's Chip) - perhaps Micro Chip was slightly larger :dunno:

Anyway, I'm sure the care is the same. Media should remain lightly moist. My Aussie's Chip is potted in a combination of pumice and perlite, as are my other Latouria Dens (I have other Dens potted the same as well) - But, that dries rather quickly in small pots, so you may want something with more moisture retention.

How large are these? I don't know about sphag for these, but they do like to remain moist, and if the plants are still small seedlings, would definitely be helpful for staying moist. Perhaps, try some in sphag, some others in other media ?

I have read, but don't know how true it may be, that Latouria Dens really dislike their roots disturbed - hence mine potted in inorganic media. That said, when I have repotted them, trying to disturb roots as little as possible, but they do get a bit disturbed, there hasn't been any problems, or 'sulking'

I use a fine mix on mine and don't let it dry out, it grows in a south window, it hasn't stop blooming for over 4 months and I hope it keeps it up, make sure what ever you use as a mix that it drains well

Thanks for all the info guys, they're fairly small still, maybe I'll try some in sphag, some in s/h and some others in the seedling mix from repotme? It's great that I have so many of them that I can experiment :)

Also Sonya, it seems Micro Chip and Aussie's Chip are one and the same:

"It was previously sold under the name Den. Aussie's Chip as a cross between Den. aberrans and Den atroviolaceum 'Pygmy'. However, this latter orchid has now been identified as a new species, Den. normanbyense, necessitating a name change for these plants."

ah - I see the confusion - however, RHS has both Micro Chip and Aussie's Chip registered - the first as a cross of normanbyense and aberrans, the second a cross of atroviolaceum and aberrans ...

I guess mine may be Micro Chip ... :dunno: