The Six Horticultural Groups of Dendrobium
 

As classified by Rebecca Tyson Northern, there are 6 groupings that describe the differences in growing needs of Dendrobiums. I am paraphrasing to avoid copyright infringement.

Type I (deciduous, so-called nobile type) intermediate to warm in summer, cool to cold in winter, full winter rest. Examples: D. nobile, D. chrysanthum, D. wardianum.

Type II (deciduous) intermediate to warm all year, full winter rest. Examples: D. speciosum, D. aggregatum, D. findlayanum, D. heterocarpum, D. superbum (anosmum), D. parishii, D. pierardii.

Type III (persistent) intermediate to warm summer, cool in winter, no winter rest - simply reduce water. Examples: D. densiflorum, D. fimbriatum, D. thyrsiflorum, D. farmeri.

Type IV (persistent) cool all year. Short suspension of water early autumn. Examples: D. bellatulum, D. secundum.

Type V (persistent) Intermediate all year. No rest. Examples: D. antilope and hybrids of type V and type VI.

Type VI (persistent) warm growing all year. Restrict water twice during year. Examples: D. phalaenopsis, D. bigibbum, D. superbiens.

Now, I have little personal success with any, except type II, so I can't help with culture on the others (I kill them more often not not - or they just up and die :evil: ) but deciduous type II are said to be the easiest for in-house culture, if one follows their needs strictly. I've found this to be true for D. anosmum. Hope this helps others.

Thanks Ross,

All this dendrobium alk lately has mostly just confused me, as I didn't know what type meant what. :scratchhead: I'm still in the dark as to what I have, but still researching.

Thanks again :bowing

niki

I know this info has been posted before. Can one of the mods please make this a sticky? Pretty please?? :)

Just research the cross (because likely you have hybrids) and compare parents/grand parents to this chart.

Excellent, Ross! thanks for this info!

Great post! I do have a question though - What group do the dendrobiums from the formosae group (the black hair dends/nigrohirsute) belong to? :hmm I feel like it is Group IV, but then it's a little confusing because I was just researching dend tobaense (which has an awesome flower btw) and it is stated as a warm grower! :scratchhead: So perhaps this group has a bit more range? I'm not sure - I've never grown them before...I've only dreamed of growing them :drool:

Group IV is correct. That is represented by D. bellatulum.

Great post Ross, very helpful!
I think hobbyists are able to gain a better undstanding about the culturing needs after reading about the 6 different types of dens.

I have a nigrohirsute that is a cross between group IV & V. It has cruentum and formosae in it's parentage. I grow it as a group V and it's going nuts, blooms all over the place.

This is a very helpful post for those with similar Dendros. Thanks for posting this.

Thanks for posting... i don't want to be picky but i've seen this list before and i've always had a small problem with the poor old forgotten aussie dendrobes. Either they get left out totally or they all get lumped in the same culture sheet, which isn't right.

You can't dump speciosum in one category because it grows native aallll along the east coast of Australia, some 3000kms from the humid, tropical, seasonal north, to the cool temperate south. The difference in culture and growth for the vars (speciosum, hillii, rex, curvicaule) is immense.

Plus where does Den kingianum and tetragonum fit in...

poor lil' things, never invited to the party.

:nod: ...only because you said Pretty Please

:coverlaugh:

Thanks to Ross and everybody who has contributed to this thread...there is SO much confusion about Dens :faint:

The majority of my collection is composed of Dens and although I've spoken to experts and judges regarding the different types, I'm still not sure when it comes to special care. :dunno:

Susanne, I doubt Rebecca Northen ever meant the classification as an end-all. There's not enough specificity. Also with all the local types (like Undergrounder mentioned) the table seems, at times, an over simplification. However it does seem to explain some of the differences in care (in a general way) and might give folks a lead on how to provide winter rest, when to rest or not rest Dens, etc. It does not however address all the care issues. Thanks for putting a push-pin in this as it will keep it up where everyone can see and comment and, hopefully, add to the information contained here.

Thanks for making this a sticky Sue. It will save us having to recreate the wheel every time someone asks if their Den. needs a winter rest or not. :biggrin: :bowing

I found this link on dendrobiums - I thought I'd add it to this now sticky.
http://www.cloudjungle.com/epibook/Dend.html
It describes species dendrobium by their specific anatomical features ( leaf shape, type of inflorescence, etc) and cultural info.
:)

Got an error for the page (Cannot display). Any idea what's going on?

No... :hmm
I have no problem bringing it up ... :scratchhead:

Try copying and pasting it manually.
http: //www.cloudjungle.com/epibook/Dend.html
(take out the blank after http: )
I hope this works

Now it works. Must have been temp. down. This grouping might be even more detailed and seems to address concerns Undergrounder had. Thanks for adding this.

:waving You are very welcome :D

What about Dendrobium Pegasus?
 

Hello all, just found this forum and I'm glad to see it's quite active. I will be visiting often I think - Relatively new to growing orchids - mostly just phals. My sister has a Dendrobium Pegasis, which has not flowered in about 2 years, so I've taken it in and going to try and get it to flower again. As soon as I find some information out about it though... soil type, lighting, humidity, temps, etc. It desperately needs to be re-potted.

I'm assuming this is some sort of hybrid, as it's not included on the list. I can't find any information about this specific plant on the web or in my orchid books. Does anyone have any information they'd like to share?

Greatly appreciated,
Frank

I found this while doing some searching around for something else and thought it might be useful. It describes the different den. groups, and gives more examples.

Dendrobium Orchid Care - Intermediate

To which type do you think Den. Bracteosum belongs?

Den. Bracteosum is in Section 10 - Pedilonum
found here - Dendrobium bracteosum

Thanks Dorothy. You are wonderful.

Hi-jack:shock:
O.K. Dorothy I need your magic. Last week I managed to talk Home Depot down on their prices to 7.00/den. The only description provided, is the following: DENDROBIUM "Genting Royal", and DENDROBIUM "Princess Misaki". I'm guessing these are Hybrids because I haven't found info on these anywhere. They were no longer in bloom upon purchasing so that complicates things even more.:hmm

Hi Samizook,
I am not Dorothy, but I had seen one of your Dends (Genting Royal) in this hp :

Woonleng
Woonleng - Dendrobium Genting Royal

as per info on it and Princess Misaki, I let the door open for Super Dorothy ;)

:hmm
The closest I could find to DENDROBIUM "Princess Misaki" was Dendrobium Princess 'Asai' - Dendrobium Princess ‘Asai’
other than that - the closest I can come to in hybrid name is - Ascda. Princess Mikasa which is a Vanda hybrid - Ascda. Princess Mikasa: Orchids By Hausermann

You guy's are great. Thanks a million! Kavanaru, Thanks for allowing me to see this in bloom for the first time.lol
Dorothy, thanks for all your effort also. I'm beginning to think there was type-o on the label that was supplied. I would totaly be happy if it were indeed "princess mikasa".:bowing

Hi Ross,

Did you by any chance see where the Dens like Den spectabile fits? I didn't see any category that seems to fit it's growing habit. It's persistant and needs to be warm year round. However, I don't know about restricting water twice a year. Any thoughts from yourself or anyone else? I also know it's a bit fussy about getting repotted and needs to re-estabish itself before it will flower again.

:scratchhead:
Randy

According to Jay's site IOSPE Photos, here is the description and recommended culture:

A spectacular, medium to large sized, hot growing epiphyte in primary rainforests, mangrove swamps and moss forests as well as an occasional lithophyte on rocks from Papua & New Guinea and the Solomon Islands at elevations of 300 to 2000 meters although it is most often from 300 to 500 meters with semiglobose at the base, to 8 noded stems carrying to 5, towards the apex, lanceolate to ovate, coriaceous, obtuse leaves, that blooms in the winter and early spring on an axillary, 8 to 16" [20 to 40 cm] long, few to many flowered [to 20] raceme with minute, oblong bracts that arises from near the apex of leafed mature canes. Fertilizer as well as water should be reduced through the winter months and resumed only after the onset of new growth in the spring.

Emphasis is mine. So it sounds like only a winter rest (not dormancy). I don't know which group that fits into, however.

Hello :) spectabile is a latouria type...not sure how it falls into these categories, but if you search latouria dendrobiums you should find a lot of information. I remember finding an amazing website somewhere that breaks down the dendrobiums into many many botanical groups...I even posted it somewhere but now I can't find it anymore :scratchhead:

EDIT - found it! :) Phil's Orchid World Dendrobiums Not too useful in terms of cultural information, but interesting taxonomically and may help you group similar orchids together based upon family

:) Thank you my friends! :waving

Randy

Despite what Ms. Northen may say, I think aggregatum is 1) certainly not deciduous and 2) a full, dry winter rest will really p*ss it off! Mine never flowered under those conditions!
Or, maybe I am having dumbluck!
Regards - Nancy

I am a newbie to orchids and this forum and I have several Dens who's catagory I don't know. Burana Stripe and Burana Pearl, King Dragon, Bobby Mesina and Betty Gotto. Can one of you very knowledgable people help me as I don't think I'm caring for them as well as I should.

I get the best flowers on my Den. aggregatum by giving it a full rest for only 2 months. I slow down watering in October. Allow it a full dry rest in November & December, then begin watering it again in January. It usually awards me with a fabulous display of flowers which start coming out in early Febuary and are in full bloom by the end of the month. :D :D

It's just too bad they only last for such a short period of time. This year I'm going to leave it go dry December & January hoping to have it in bloom for the Longwood Gardens show. We shall see.

Mine grows in nothing. It has a hook in it so I can hang it. I drove the metal stake straight through the cluster of bulbs and bent it around so the cluster wouldn't fall of. Spring, summmer and fall, it get's watered daily and lots of low dose MSN fertilizer.

If you don't rest it all you get are a few flower spikes. But if you rest it for a couple of months you will get LOTS of flower spikes!!

My :twocents:
Randy

:lol: Howdy & Wellcome to the group!:hello

I can't say about all of what you have w/o photos, not knowing all the names. However, I do recall the Burana's are the Den/Phal types. These are easier to care for than the straight species dendrobiums. They don't need winter resting, as a matter of fact, if you don't water them enough they loose leaves, which might lead you to think they were deciduous, which they aren't. I've killed a couple that way, LOL :blushing: :lol:

I hope sombody more knowledable than I am can give you more advice. I'm not the best at growing those types of Dendrobiums.

:waving
Randy

thanks
 

Thanks Randy,
Any info is welcomed since I know so little and have too many Orchids that I don't want to kill.:)

When I originally posted this thread, I simply paraphrased a classification system coined by Rebecca Northern. There had been lots of questions regarding culture and I hoped to simplify most of the questions into her classification system. Like most systems, nothing is fool-proof. But suffice it to say, that if you know a broad group your plant falls into, then her system will be a good start with culture. The crosses yield the most controversy and confusion. Named crosses require one to seek out the original parentage and determine, based on percent of the original parents and subsequent contributers, which of the 6 major groups your plant should be in. It's not and end-all solution, just a help in determining how to start taking care of your plant.

Which section do Dendrobium laevifolium, Dendrobium brassii, Dendrobium moniliforme and Dendrobium harveyanum belong to? just curious....