| Dear Chris,
I did a bit of research and think I have found out what kind of orchid you have. I believe it is: Dendrobium Nopporn Pink 'Albe'. Some people find orchid names terribly confusing, but they can really tell you a great deal about the plant. Before I dig into names, I should point out 2 terms we use frequently "species" and "hybrids". A "species" orchid occurs naturally in the wild. A 'hybrid" is the result of crossing species and other hybrids to get all sorts of different shapes, colours, and other characteristics. Now here's a crash course on orchid names:
ORCHID NAMES - Orchid names usually come in 3 parts. First is the "genus", second is the "species" or the "grex" (more on them below), and the third is the "clonal" name.
GENUS - The first part is the "genus" and tells us what group of orchids your plant is a member of. Common genera include: Dendrobium, Phalenopsis, Paphiopedilum, Cattleya, and Vanda. There are well over a thousand recognized genera now, I think. If an orchid is a "hybrid" orchid (one that is the product of artificial breeding) it might have a combined genus name like Laeliocattleya (a cross between a Lelia and a Cattleya) or, if more than 3 different genera are present, a made-up genus name will be given, like Potinara or Wilsonara. Charts and lists are available to tell you what these compound and made-up names contain. This first name is often abbreviated. In your case, for Dendrobium, you’ll often see: Den.
SPECIES or GREX – The second name is the species or the grex. If the orchid is a “species” as defined above, the second name is the species name. It is always in lowercase like this: Brassavola nodosa. If the orchid is a hybrid (like yours) the second name is the “grex” which identifies the name of that particular cross. The “grex is always capitalized like this: Cattleya Chocolate Drop.
CLONAL NAME – If I cross 2 plants (for example Paph stonei and Paph niveum = Paph Luk Luk), I’ll get potentially hundreds of offspring. If I have, say 100 different Paph. Luk Luk plants and one of them gets an award, how do I tell it apart from all the rest? You tell it apart by giving it a “clonal name”. When an orchid receives an award form the American Orchid Society (AOS), the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), the Australian Orchid Council (AOC), or any one of the many orchid societies around the world, the owner of the plant adds a clonal name which is registered with the awarding agency. The clonal name appears in single quotation markes and is capitalized like this: Slc. Jewel Box ‘Dark Waters’.
Now back to your plant – Dendrobium Nopporn Pink 'Albe' The genus is Dendrobium, the grex is Nopporn Pink and the clonal name is 'Albe'. If your tag doesn’t say Dendrobium, add it or the abbreviation Den.
Now, how to grow it:
LIGHT – Bright indirect light is good – probably in an east window, possibly south if it gets a little relief form the direct mid-day sun.
TEMPERATURE – Intermediate is probably best – your house temps are probably intermediate
POTTING & WATERING – Pot it in a well-draining mix (usually bark is good) in the smallest pot that will accommodate the roots (they like to be pot bound). Water more (perhaps as much as twice a week) when the plant is growing, less when it is resting.
I don’t grow many of these kinds of Dendrobium so maybe someone else can give you more practical advice on culture?
Cheers,
-Kevin  |