Dendrobium advice

[hollyoswald]

I have a Dendrobium Yellow Song Canary that grew a new cane right after flowering and now has keikis on the old canes. According to the Yamamoto site, (thanks for the suggestion jerrymeola!) I should cut off the keikis to put energy into the new cane and use a low nitrogen fertilizer. So...is it possible to grow these little keikis if they dont have roots yet? And the only low nitrogen formula I know is Grow More 6-30-30. Is there something better to use?

[syndywindy]

Hi! Welcome to the forum. I love dens myself but I wouldn't cut the keiki off if there are no roots yet. You need to wait at least until you have a couple roots about an inch or so long before cutting a keiki off the mother plant. so just keep giving the mother plant the culture it needs and eventually the keikis will grow enough to cut and repot.

[Fishmom]

Hi hollyoswald! Welcome to the forum. I see you are in Sonoma; there is a product line called Dyna-Gro which is available in our area. I get it at a hydroponic shop in Vallejo. They have Orchid-Pro which is 7-8-7 with micronutrients, which I use all year, weekly weakly. They have a variety of other formulae also.

I'd concur with Syndywyndy about the keiki--they will just shrivel if they don't have a good root system established to help them survive the surgery.

[rcb]

I guess I'm a little surprised at a suggestion of low nitrogen fertilizer for growth. That just seems odd.

I agree with Fishmom, a balanced fertlizer would be better.

[11Orchid126]

Orchids don't need much nitrogen. Imagine them stuck to the sides of the trees. How much nitrogen do they really get? Their bulb system works for them as storage units. Because of this they're different than most house plants.

[Brooke]

I'm always more surprised when they suggest a higher middle number is best. I want my middle number lower.

If you fertilize weakly weekly with balanced numbers, a 10-10-10 is pretty low at 1/4 strength. Even if you cut it in half, it is still low.

Brooke

[pedidiva]

the nitrogen that the orchids use in the wild may be from the atmosphere 7 when it rains, perhaps.