Dendrobium question
 

:hello I have a couple questions regarding a den. This is my first yr owning one and I am curious about a few things. Firstly how many canes will a den grow approx? I know growing conditions probably dictate alot. The one I have is in the process of growing 7 new canes. I got it in flower and once the flowers were finished I put it outside. I noticed the other day the start of these growths, are they keiki's? They are on a couple of the canes maybe 6 or 7 of them so far. Also my den blew over one day and one of the tops of a new cane broke off will it die or will it produce flowers next yr? Thanks for the help :biggrin:

Cheryl

Well Dens are one of the biggest genera of orchids, which means they vary a lot. Some have masses and masses of tiny canes, others have fewer larger canes.

Yours is obviously one with bigger canes but it's still difficult to say how many canes it could get.

The growths could be keikis or could be flowers, it depends what sort of den it is whether they have flowers all down the canes or a spike near the top. I've seen flowers start that way, but usually earlier in the year.

Keikis generally branch from the old canes themselves, usually from the upper half in my experience. Large, new canes emerge from the basal nodes of the old canes at or below soil level. Both can produce flowers if good culture is present.
CL

My den (?) noid grew new canes out the sides about midway up the old cane. I cut them off when they produced roots and new canes came out again. The buds looked like those in the picture. I thought dens produced flower spikes off oldleafless canes. I'm not very familiar with them. I olny haveone large one and the other is a kingianum. Small kiekis I got froma friend. Yours looks very healthy.

Looks like a nobile type
Hard to say if the nubs are spikes or keikis (for me anyway - only have had one of these a short time so far)

I don't know what the broken cane may end up doing - let us know!

Like other sympodial orchids, more mature plants will get more new growth than younger ones

Different Dens produce flowers in different ways. Some do only grow them off old (leafless) canes, others along the sides of newer canes with leaves, others on spikes out the top (or near the top) of new canes.

One of mine produces growths like in the pictures, which can either turn into kekis or into flowers depending on the conditions (I've heard if you fertilise too soon after the winter, or keep it too wet over the winter, then you get keikis, otherwise you get flowers).

My kingianum seems to always produce keikis which then flower, rather than flowers directly on the parent. I've heard others saying they regularly get the same thing as well on kingianum.

It's such a massive genus there is a lot of variety just in the one genus. I can't say what yours is Cheryl except it's not a kingianum and I don't think it's one in the phalanthe group. It's more like a nobile type den but I'm not sure on that :dunno:

Thanks for the help. This one is a nobile den. It is named but it's so long I can post if you like. It retained all it's leaves while it was in flower. Who knows what it will do under my care. I think they might be keiki's as they all are near the top of older canes as cym ladye said. I don't know if I want to keep them as it is quite a big plant already with all the new canes growing from soil level (7 already so far). If I don't want them what is the best way to take them off and when would you do it? Thanks again.

Cheryl

I think they probably will be keikis if it's a nobile type. Presumably it's already flowered this year then?

I would leave them until they are clearly keikis. If you want to put them up separately then leave them until they have roots, then twist them off. If you don't want them at all then you can probably twist them off sooner than that.

Yes thanks rosie it was in flower when I got it earlier this yr. I didn't fertilize it until flowers were done so am surprised that I've got keiki's as well as alot of new canes. I guess I am doing something right for a change lol. I hate throwing away new plants, but I just don't have the space for 6-8 more dens on top of what I already have. Maybe if someone in ontario wants some I could keep them and send them. It is a named den and I can post a pic if anyone is interested.

Cheryl

Rosie, is this a nobile type den? It's a noid to me. There is the second set of keikis this season as I have already cut off the first set and potted them. When do they flower? This one is munted on a board as it had no roots when I got it. It just fell out of the pot when I got it home. Dumpster I think. Or maybe alley. I forget.

Look at the canes. If there are flower stubs up and down the canes it is likely a nobile type. If the flower stubs are at the tip of the canes, then it is a different type.

Thanks. Nothing right now except for the 3 keikis

I'm afraid I'm not an expert on spotting nobile type dens, except from 'looks a bit like my nobile' :coverlaugh:

However Orchid126 is right that nobile's have flowers up and down the cane rather than spikes out the top, however I'm not sure if there are other types that also have that.