Den Hawaii Spectacular - Orchid Board

Jeff214 · #1 05-28-2018, 01:15 PM

Hi,

A pink latouria den in bloom. Got a nice show this year - five spikes and a few more left to open. Has a sweet floral smell in the morning.

Dollythehun · #2 05-28-2018, 01:58 PM

Very pretty!

nubiesan · #3 08-02-2019, 04:43 PM

Do you know which group this orchid belongs to? I have one as well and I don't know how to tell which of the six subgroups of dendrobiums it belongs to, I am very new at this

neophyte · #4 08-02-2019, 06:34 PM

not sure if they still group dendrobiums into traditional types (Type I = nobile, Type 2 = deciduous, etc.) anymore. i've always thought of 'hawaii spectacular' simply as a Latouria-type dendrobium, albeit with a pretty pink color. the AOS has a page dedicated to Latouria culture, if you're interested: Den. Sec. Latouria

fishmom · #5 08-02-2019, 06:46 PM

Beautiful--what a nice display! Good growing, that's a happy plant.

nubiesan · #6 08-03-2019, 10:11 PM

I will check out that page. Thanks

Jeff214 · #7 08-03-2019, 10:30 PM

nubiesan, do you need culture info on this plant?

I find it to be similar to other latouria-type dendrobiums. Seems to like warmer temps, lots of sun and water. I tend to give less water during colder months and avoid cold temps.

nubiesan · #8 09-09-2019, 02:04 PM

Since this is my first experience with dendrobiums, I have no idea how to encourage flowers. I don't even know for sure where the flower spikes come from. My plant is quite large, but no sign of anything that looks like a flower spike. The plant did not have flowers when I bought it, so I don't really know what it should look like.

The plant is on my east-facing lanai under a pool cage in southwest Florida.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

SaraJean · #9 09-09-2019, 05:17 PM

Gorgeous bloom!! I love these twisty flowers and the fact that they last so long is even better

Quote:

Originally Posted by nubiesan

Since this is my first experience with dendrobiums, I have no idea how to encourage flowers. I don't even know for sure where the flower spikes come from. My plant is quite large, but no sign of anything that looks like a flower spike. The plant did not have flowers when I bought it, so I don't really know what it should look like.

The plant is on my east-facing lanai under a pool cage in southwest Florida.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Without seeing a picture of yours, the usual reasons for an otherwise healthy plant to not bloom are that it’s either not large enough and needs more time, or, it needs more light. Are the newest growths as tall or taller than the previous ones? How often are you fertilizing it? Sometimes if an orchid is fed too much it will resist blooming. Has it been getting enough water? The best way to tell is if it is hanging on to its leaves. These should not drop the leaves off of old canes for many years.
As far as size goes- have grown this previously, got a new one, and also have several similar hybrids that reach blooming size at about the same height. The earliest I would expect them to bloom is when the newest cane is about 11”-12” tall. That’s the smallest that I have personally seen bloom. Some of the shorter canes can bloom as well, but they seem to wait until there are some taller canes blooming before they will flower. All of the Dens in the background of this hybrid are large, robust growers. Full grown, it can easily be anywhere from 24”-48” tall

I’ll attach some pics of my Hawaii Spectacular so you can get an idea of where the spikes come from. They look like little nodes on the top part of the cane. They can bloom many, many times from the same cane and more than once for the same noder. This one is just barely reaching blooming size and the newest cane is maturing at about 12” tall. The previous growth is only 8”-9”.

If you are able to upload some pictures that would be helpful. You could start another thread for your orchid and hopefully get some answers

Jeff214 · #10 09-09-2019, 10:06 PM

Mine took a while before it started to bloom. The psuedobulbs toppped off around 12" and maybe 2-3 growth cycles (1-2 yrs) after, it started to bloom well. Perhaps your plant is still too young / small. Initially, I got 1 spike a year with 3-5 flowers. Now I get 1-2 spikes per psuedobulb, ~9 flowers per spike.

Den. Hawaii Spectacular initiates spikes in Jan, blooms in late Feb / March and the flowers last a good 3-4 months for me. It can bloom from both the old and new growths at any node (where SaraJean has pointed out) that hasn't previously bloomed. I've attached photos from this March.

It seems to like to be fed and watered very frequently. I've never given it a winter's rest and it has been flowering very well.

I recently moved to southern California, and my plant did not tolerate the intense sun here... 75% was burned in a few days. I'm not too worried since this is probably one of the most vigorous orchids I have. Should bounce back in a year or so.

Anyway, I'd post a photo of your plant and describe how you take care of it (temps, watering, fertilization, lighting conditions, etc, etc) and people may be able to help you better.

Good luck growing!