What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

D day for orchid buying

I purchased two new orchids today, Dimorphichus lowii (2 diff colored flowers on same inflorescence) & Dendrobium macrophylla. I'm curious if anyone has experience growing either of these species?

The Dimorphicus lowii is only about 6" tall - what is blooming size on one of these? I've seen one mounted on a piece of cork will they grow faster that way? Mine is just in NZ LFS in a 2" pot but I like mounted plants so if it's better I'll put it on a mount.

The Dendrobium macrophylla is flowering as well as simultaneously putting out new growth and has pretty much packed it's 8 or 10" pot. When the flowering ceases there will still be active new growth. I'm wondering when can I repot it without too much interruption to the plant?
 
Sure thing I used to grow them both
wink.gif


As for flowering size on the D. lowii IM not sure we got them in flasks from another company and google is down right now.
You can go ahead and mount it if you like just make sure you mount it so as to accomodate its natural growth habit they are a semi pendant and so should be mounted closer to the top of the cork or whatever you choose to mount it on. A 16" to 24" long peice of cork should last it awhile.
Id also make sure you use a liberal amount sphagnum as a backer, my personal favorite backing material it a 50/50 mix of NZ sphagnum and Treefern fiber, this allows maximum air movement around the roots while still holding plenty of water.
And yes the plant will most likely grow faster on a mount if only for the increased air movement at the roots compared to a potted plant.

As for the Den just repot as soon after flowerings as possible.
D.macrophylla is an extremely tough and vigorous plant so theres not much to worry about with them just grow it like any Phal except give it a little more light, say a southern window vs. an eastern window.
 
Thanks man!

How large must the Dimorphichus be before it flowers. OLs site says that this is a smaller clone that only reaches 30" across whereas some can reach 9 feet across. Must it be a full 30" before it flowers for the first time?

Can the Dendrobium (well a piece of it anyway) be mounted as well or do they simply become too large and cumbersome?

Both will probably stay in the lowland chamber for the growth period and then moved to the highland tank to initiate flowering (cos it has the nightly temp drop) is this a good or a bad idea?

I am pretty much forced to terrarium growing as my condo is far too dry (20-30% RH for 3/4 of the year) and dark (no good windows either blocked by trees or the garages). The only plant that even survives my living conditions is the Panda Philo but it definately did better outdoors last summer, even flowering in the fall.
 
Looking my new acuisitions up and reading their descriptions in my orchid indexes (and seeing the photos) What I actually have is Dendrobium polysema not D. macrophyllum as the stake indicates (two different books confirm it: Botanicas newest edition of Orchids and the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchids). Regardless, it's a wonderful plant and I will enjoy it nonetheless. Someone ought to tell the shop but I don't know how well he'd take some novice like me pointing it out, having only just started growing Orchids a year ago. Just like the OL "Pinguicula vulgaris" which is actually P. agnata 'true blue' var.

Ah well just thought I'd post an ammendment to my original post!
smile.gif
 
To be honest with you i dont know for sure but i would imagine its capable of flowering when it is still relativley small.

It would definately prove challenging to manage D. macrophyllum, D. polysema or most any of section latourea on a mount in confined spaces, they really like a moist growing environment just like a Phal plus alot of them just get way too big.

Your plan of moving them between the two sounds fine although laborious. I was just using the window thing as an example. Although id say if your RH is down that low you really should get a humidifier if even just for yourself, dry air can be a reall pain in the a@@, at least for me.

As for pointing out nomenclatural errors dont bother, this was a point of contention between he and I for quite sometime.
I always knew that Ping wasnt vulgaris! Infact i was just talking about it with a friend the other day. I just dont have it any more so I didnt entirely remember the flower but now that you say that I can picture it clearly, hehe.
I think he only charges like 4 bucks fo them you know he'd double the price if he knew what he had.
Id tell you more but were kind of in public.
wink.gif
 
Ok, I will just put it into two new pots as it's getting a dead spot in the center but since it's got strong new growth (I think I counted six new sheaths) I suppose I'll wait til growth slows.

Moving plants back and forth won't be too difficult, and will give me something to do while waiting for them to do something exciting.
wink.gif


Yeah, I got a real P. vulgaris from Czech. and definately there is a difference in what the plants look like even minus the flower. At least the agnata is a good grower, dividing itself and filling pots.
And oh, no, it wasn't $4 for the P. "vulgaris"... it was $25! Of course that was before I really new anything about CPs and anything about the magic of mailorder!
 
Man thats outrageous! I cant beleive he charged you 25 dollars! I am so sorry. How big was the plant? Its amazing to me how he manages to stay in bussiness they way he prices things, hes less retail and more hording, ever noticed how soo much is NOT for sale but its still on the sales floor.

Generally I recommend repotting when the plant is begining active growth, this way when growth slows theyre not sitting in a bunch of brand new media in a new usually larger pot, they do much better in the long run when they have the ability to immediatley grow into the new media.
Oh I also forgot to mention that hes got both D. macrophyllum and D. polysema so its quite possible someone got the labels mixed up.
 
Even though it's a tag mix up - I'm quite sure as these have purple spotted sepals pointing up whereas all pics of D. macrophyllum show them as plain white/yellow green and pointing down. also the books/websites/etc all seem to mention that D. polysema has large club shaped pseudobulbs. But then, specifics were not important on my first Latourea/"Antelope Orchid", a subgenus I quite like! I never cared much for Dendrobiums at all until researching this guy and seeing the others in that section. I bought it on the premise of liking the plant and the rather "morbid" looking blooms.
biggrin.gif


I always buy a plant and then try and find it online or in books never believing what I've got when I get it home til I see it published elsewhere under the tag. Manys the time I've purchased "cheap" Cps at places like Lyndale Gardens under rediculous mixups. A Nepenthes labeled "Butterwort" or "Sundew"...
I've grown quite used to this routine with aquarium plants as well as CPs/Orchids so it's nothing new or surprising.
wink.gif


Whay you say about repotting during active growth makes sense so I will repot the Dend. as soon as the inflorescence fades. Asside from the new growing tip and cane it's growing from how many additional canes should be used when making divisions is 2 or 3 enough? How many canes generally come up in one season just one or several? (this is my first Dend. if you can't tell)

Thanks again man!  
smile.gif
 
So have you aquired D. spectabilis yet? If not id say this is definatley a must for you.
Im a big fan of Dendrobiums myself, with nearly 1100 species its the second largest Orchid genus, next to Bulbophyllum.
Im a big fan of the Australian Dendrobiums.

Well I normally make sure Ive got at least 3 pseudobulbs per division but the more the better, dont be afraid to take a saw to the plant and just slice it right down the middle. Sometimes that is neccesary due to under potting. Otherwise you can usually find the middle of the plant if its not too dense, then seperate most of the roots according to that line, once most of your roots have been sperated you can then snap the rhizome at that predetermined point this way you minimize the risk of infection by not introducing any foreign objects to the wound. I also like the Phyton 50 plant wound paste for these types  of procedures.

Keep us updated
wink.gif
 
  • #10
I only have this one Dendrobium right now it was the first Dendrobium I ever noticed. I didn't know it was a Den cos of the weird shaped canes and interesting flowers.
I have since ordered a book on the Latourea Orchids (not here yet, from KEW so it might be June before I see that in my mailbox) but I may experiment and see if I can grow them in the house when I make the divisions because the floor space inside the terrariums are at a premium with all the Neps. I my need to vow to stick with the mounted orchids if I am unable to grow them in the house. This dang D. polysema is taking up a lotta space (could say I thought it was a "medium" sized plant til I put it in there, suddenly it's huge) !
 
  • #11
They certainley grow like a weed, Id imagine youd have no problems growing them on a sunny window sill.

biggrin.gif
 
Back
Top