Dendrobium anosmum in S/H?

[katrina]

Originally Posted by KC Kam

Hi all,

I'm still new with anosmum (Ard 1 year).
I am always confuse with when to reduce watering and when to resume watering. The reason is in my place (Malaysia), one local nursery that produce masses of anosmum (Alba, pink, purple) says that they don't stop watering and the orchid blooms on the whole cane when it is old enough. But most internet sources says to cut down watering during winter to mimic the environment in it's original habitat.

Anosmum came from few places (Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines) their dry season is as below)
Dry season in Malaysia may-sept
Dry season in thailand Oct - Feb
Dry season in Philippines nov-may

So my question is when is the time to reduce watering? Or I should follow the nursery advise to keep on watering?

To add on to the confusion, some nurseries says it bloom ard Sept to October yet the one that I have from the nursery that mass produce them flowered ard May (Ard 2-4 flowers per cane. The cane was already almost 3 ft long). I also have another semi-alba form which is starting to lose leaves now (cut watering?)

Any advice?

Thank you very much.

Listen to the plant. Meaning...when the canes are mature and the leaves begin to drop you can water less but still water so they don't stay dry for long periods. When the plant is actively growing then increase the watering (and add fert) so they are more consistently moist. The biggest difference is somewhat less water when "resting" and no fert during that phase.

As ES pointed out...people in HI grow these outside year round and they bloom beautifully. If you're growing it outside year round, it will eventually catch up with the seasons/climate of your area and it will more closely follow the rainy/drier seasonality of your local area.

BTW - if the nursery in your area says to water them all year then I would listen to them because they likely grow lots of them and are most familiar w/your local conditions and how they impact that particular orchid. They would certainly be more familiar w/your local conditions than any one of us on the other side of the world.

And since we are on the subject...IME, there are very few orchids that actually need a completely dry rest for extended periods. Some of the Aussie natives fall into this group but, otherwise, most orchids will get dew and fog in their native habitats and that definitely provides some moisture to the roots. Maybe not a lot...but they aren't completely dry.

As an example...I even give my Ctsm and Habenaria a little water during their dormant phases. Between the lights and the furnace in the winter...things gets so dry and since switching to a "little sip" (a drizzle of water around the outside edges of the pots) from time to time during their dormancy...I'm finding my plants are healthier and stronger. But, to talk to some growers...any water at all during the winter will kill these quickly...I have not found that to be the case. IMO, I think some of the "no water at all" advice is given for people who grow their orchids under conditions that would expose them to extreme cold during dormancy (outside yr round maybe) and the extreme cold and too wet can be deadly. Most of us will not be exposing our orchids to those extremes so no water at all could, potentially, actually set them back due to severe dehydration.