Cut dry stems of Dendobrium or not?

[Ana Rodrigues]

Hello orchid experts! My mother got a beautiful white Dendobrium for Christmas, but it seems like it didn't respond well to the change of environment (nursery to store to house). We treated it just as the other sucessful Phaleanopsis she already had in terms of water, fertilizer and light. But all the stems/stalks (hope I'm saying it right) are withering and all the leafs are falling. One of the stems has a sprout at the base. So my questions are: Is this normal? What are we missing? And if the old stems die and get completely dry, should I cut them off?
Thanks in advance!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Dendrobiums should actually be grown differently from a Phal.

Most Dendrobiums usually grow drier than Phals do. Many Dendrobiums usually experience a seasonal difference in temperature and moisture levels in the wild, and the hybrids can still retain these traits.

The Dendrobium that you have is most likely a hybrid of either some Dendrobiums in the Phalaenanthe (aka Dendrobium phalaenopsis types) section or Dendrobiums in the section Spatulata (aka Antelope Dendrobiums). Both of these types of Dendrobiums require moderately bright indirect light to bright indirect light.

Along the stem of the Dendrobium, it is sometimes common to see what are called "keikis" grow along the nodes of the canes. Keiki is a Hawaiian word for baby. So they are in essence baby plants sprouting from the mother plant. It is possible that one of the reasons for the Dendrobium throwing out keikis is stress related. It might be stress from being grown improperly, or stress from having so much physical damage that they are ready to die soon, whichever one of these it is, you'll need to find out on your own if this should ever be the case later down the line.

I recommend finding out if the plant's got any living roots on it. You can do a Google search for what a healthy root on a Dendrobium looks like.

It is not advisable to remove these babies until they have roots that grow to be about 2" - 3" long. When these babies are mature enough, they are usually very easy to peel off the mother plant.

Growing a new stem/cane along the base is a far more conventional way for the plant to grow larger. It will continue to do this throughout the lifetime of the plant.

In general, when these types of Dendrobiums are done blooming and the flower spike turns brown, you may remove them. Many of these kinds of Dendrobiums do not re-bloom from the the same spike.

[Orchid126]

If the sprout is very near the base it may be the beginning of another cane.

[vjo]

Hi, flower stalks you may cut off. The tall plant stalks are actually the pseudobulbs of this type of plant they are called canes. They are where all of the new growth will come from. You. should not cut them off until they have actually turned very brown and shriveled up. They will be feeding the new growths for many months.
They will probably send out many new growths in the next few months. Dont over water now, the new canes are kind of sensitive to that and they are getting all they need from the old
canes, wait untill they have a few inches of roots and if you think you absolutely HAVE to do something just mist them a little.
Hope this helps....Jean

[Ana Rodrigues]

Thank you for all the explanations! I'm pretty sure this new growth is a new cane. It's attached to an old one, but right at the bottom, so I think it may already have some roots of it's own (I'll try to check it without much disturbance, if possible). I'll keep an eye on it, let the old canes transfer all the nutrient supply to the new one (and other new ones that I hope will sprout meanwhile) and I'll only cut them off when they get really dry. The water and light have been given to it like you described. Thanks again! =)