Tips for Australian dendrobium
 

I recently acquired a dendrobium Australian Robbie McInnes. From my understanding and research Australian Dens don't require a dry period in the winter, but much less watering. I plan on growing it outdoors as well next year. I believe I've read that they can handle likes in the 40s F and need mottled sunlight during summer, but can handle full sun spring and fall.

Does this sound correct? Any other tips?

bump

Despite their reputation for general hardiness, my two trial Aussie dendros did not fare well. I would definitely say that they prefer drier conditions even during periods of growth. Even in the summer, they did best with watering once a week or even less frequently.

Mine did not do too well in a sunny window inside...depending on what yours is used to, you might want to transition to brighter conditions slowly. There's no undoing sunburn.

I grow some dendrobiums (moschatum, devonianum, and discolor) ..... up in NQ. They just grow in scoria/volcanic rock pieces - sitting under under shade of shrubs, in their plastic pots - sometimes getting full (direct sun) in the afternoon. The lawn sprinkler is the only thing that waters them. I haven't grown your particular dendrobium before, but I believe that with adequate light and good air-circulation, these orchids - and a whole lot of others, will grow nicely. The main thing is to sun-harden them gradually ----- and --- keep an eye out on particularly sun-intense days (which can really peak at particular times of the year) ----- which can burn/scorch the plants leaves --- but the scorching can be minor - so if the plant makes it through the season (and makes it through many seasons) --- chances are it'll just thrive.

I don't even fertilise them (manually). I think ants or insects or whatever live inside the media - within the pots, and bring in some nutrients (aka fertiliser).

Weird. I had the exact opposite experience. I had moved mine to LECA so I could water them every day with out having to worry. They hated it. I had some really crappy growth with much of the new growth aborting before it would even get a few inches tall. I ended up repotting in a 1:1 mix of bark and LECA, still watering every day in the warm seasons, and they are much happier. I do keep mine outside though, and my summers are HOT. They seem to be pretty tolerant of extremes. I water less in the winter, but not bone dry, and I’ll cut out fertilizer soon after some of these growths are finished developing.

I think the lowest temps mine saw over the winter were in the low 40’s. I didn’t give any of my hybrids full sun but they did get more direct light during that time of the year

Thank you all for your input. I think I'm going to keep it in a bright window until March. We should be past any Frost at the point. Then find a bright spot in the yard.