Dendrobium chrysanthum

[maninair]

Hi,

I am Mani Nair from Mumbai, India. Last week from an exhibition I bought a dendrobium chrysanthum. He showed me the flower and I confirmed that it is dendrobium chrysanthum from google.The vendor told me that it will bloom in April and he does not know much about its cultivation. The plant origin is North East India.
The plant has four five canes and two canes got leaves and three is bare leaves. I have planted it in a hanging pot with pine bark and moss. I would be grateful if any one can tell me whether I have to put water or give it rest period till April.

Regards,

Mani

[subbu_srikant]

Hello!

Dendrobium chrysanthum is native to Nepal. I hav got one. It prefers cooler climate. Its really cold here during winter so I dont water them much till climate gets a bit warmer.

[patticake]

I remember that this was one that we were considering for a species project last year. The blooms are so pretty! Deep yellow with a burgundy throat, if I remember correctly! We ruled it out when we found out that it gets huge! Good luck with it! Post some pictures if you get the chance!

[solay]

Now I'm going to have to look it up. Sounds beautiful.

[maninair]

Originally Posted by subbu_srikant

Hello!

Dendrobium chrysanthum is native to Nepal. I hav got one. It prefers cooler climate. Its really cold here during winter so I dont water them much till climate gets a bit warmer.

Dear Srikant, What are the chances of its flowering in Mumbai as our climate is not so cold during winter and it is very hot in summer. Please reply.

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by maninair

I confirmed that it is dendrobium chrysanthum from google.

I'm afraid, if Google was the authority that ID's your dendrobium, your ID is far from authoritative. IDing an orchid species requires detailed comparison of every part of the plant and flower with a botanical description. It is not possible to reliably ID a plant form a picture, especially one found on Google as many pics resulting form a Google search are mis-tagged.

Best to have it looked at by a taxonomist.

[maninair]

Thanks Kmarch for your suggestion. I will post an attachment of my dendrobium. Kindly identify it and let me know.

Regards,

Mani.

[maninair]

Originally Posted by kmarch

I'm afraid, if Google was the authority that ID's your dendrobium, your ID is far from authoritative. IDing an orchid species requires detailed comparison of every part of the plant and flower with a botanical description. It is not possible to reliably ID a plant form a picture, especially one found on Google as many pics resulting form a Google search are mis-tagged.

Best to have it looked at by a taxonomist.

Dear Kmarch,

Day before yeterday I went to the same who sold me the orchid and I found the photo of the orchid and clicked a picture. He said the orchid will flower during April. I am attaching the picture. Kindly identify the orchid.

Regards,

Mani

[patticake]

That looks like the one that we were considering from Oak Hill Gardens! It's got such a pretty bloom! If I had the room, it would be top on my list! It has a fuzzy ruffle on the lip that is soooo cute! Good luck with it!

[maninair]

Dear KMarch, I did not find any reply from you. I think your opinion about google has changed.

[Rishad Kalarikkal]

Hii..Mani nair..happy to know about your new chid..please keep updating.

[subbu_srikant]

Im not sure if it will flower in mumbai. It requires rest during winter and i dont think you have winter there.

[maninair]

I know our winter is short. What is harm in trying.

Mani.

[maninair]

Dear friends,

I have seen a flower buds growing opposite the leaves of my dendrobium chrysanthum. I will send you a photo when the buds turns to flower.

Thanks.

Mani

[digitalgate]

i believe your plant is a species and mine is a hybrid

but this look similiar but are two different plant.

[maninair]

Dear digitalgate, what is the difference in species and hybrid. I am asking this because I am new to orchid growing. Thanks.

[patticake]

A species is the form the plant has when found in the wild. If you cross one with another of the exact same species, it's still a species. If you cross one variety of a species, with a different variety, you get a hybrid.

Example: Paph. delanatii x Paph. delenatii = Paph. delenatii -species
Paph. delenatii x Paph. vietnamense = Paph. Ho Chi Minh...-hybrid
Good luck with it!

[maninair]

Thanks Patticake for your information.

[maninair]

is it necessary to fertilize the plant now? what about compost tea? Please advise.

Originally Posted by maninair

Dear friends,

I have seen a flower buds growing opposite the leaves of my dendrobium chrysanthum. I will send you a photo when the buds turns to flower.

Thanks.

Mani

[maninair]

Dear all

I am attaching three photos of my Dendrobium Chrysanthum. The flowers did not open fully and dried within three four days. I believe it is due to the extreme heat conditions in Mumbai. The temperature on that day was 40 C which is abnormal. Hope next time the flowers will last for long time.

Regards,

Mani

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by maninair

Dear KMarch, I did not find any reply from you. I think your opinion about google has changed.

My opinion is largely irrelevant. What really matters are: 1) the fact that Google is not a taxonomical authority for the identification of orchids. It's just a search engine and it's accuracy is at the mercy of whatever people post on the internet. Google searches are often packed full of mis-identified pictures. I just did a Google search for "Den chrysanthum" and of the 20 images on the first page of results, 9 (45%) of them are definitely not Den chrysanthum and of those, 6 (30%) of them aren't even orchids; and 2) the fact that reliable orchid species identification requires careful comparison of a number of the orchid's flower and plant parts with a botanical description. This can't be done just by looking at a picture and should be done by a reliable taxonomist.

The pics you posted are helpful but there is still much we can't tell from them. I can tell there are dark markings in this lip but I can't see them clearly. It's possible that your dendrobium could be chrysanthum, but also gibsonii or possibly ochreatum.

[maninair]

Thanks Kmarch for your reply. I also agree with you that google search is not that accurate as an opinion from a taxonomist.

[digitalgate]

this plant is beautiful. Any fragrance?

[maninair]

Thanks digitalgate. I did not get a chance as the flowers were there only for a short period - about two days and secondly the flowers were outside the grill of balcony and I thought not to disturb the plant by pulling it in. Next time when the plant flowers, what care I should take for the flowers to last long. I think our climate is very hot during this period - around 40 C. I am misting the plant and the pot in the morning. Which fertilizer I can use - bonemeal will do ?

One more thing - there are some root formation below the flower stalk as you can see in the picture. What is that. Is it a keiki?

Please help.

[jerrymeola]

maninair

If the dealer told you it was chrysanthum there is no reason for you to believe that it is not correct.

Doubting dealer's identification would mean every plant in the world was a NoID.

What the dealer should have told you is that the flowers are very short lived. One week is average and two weeks would be exceptionally long. You could extend the life of the flowers some by putting it in a cooler area, but do not expect it to exceed its normal life span.

[kmarch]

To add to what Jerry just said, the flowers of those Dendrobiums in the Section Dendrobium are relatively short lived compared to other orchids. Den chrysanthum flowers typically last 1-2 weeks according to Baker & Baker. Most orchids in this section last only a couple o weeks or less.

Also I should have added that the pic you posted in post #8 above looks like Den fimbriatum var occulatum but also does not look so much like your flower - though it's a bit hard to tell.

[maninair]

Dealer did not tell me any name. He just showed me the picture of the orchid and after searching from google I saw similar photos of the orchid. There is a site named flowersofindia.net, where the same orchids photo is shown and it is also Dendrobium Chrysanthum. But after flowering of my orchid , i saw some difference , may be it is due to our hot whether condition.

Originally Posted by jerrymeola

maninair

If the dealer told you it was chrysanthum there is no reason for you to believe that it is not correct.

Doubting dealer's identification would mean every plant in the world was a NoID.

What the dealer should have told you is that the flowers are very short lived. One week is average and two weeks would be exceptionally long. You could extend the life of the flowers some by putting it in a cooler area, but do not expect it to exceed its normal life span.

[maninair]

Originally Posted by maninair

One more thing - there are some root formation below the flower stalk as you can see in the picture. What is that. Is it a keiki?

Please help.

Waiting for your reply please.

Mani

[kmarch]

I don't see what root formation you are referring to.

[maninair]

When you see my orchid picture 2nd and 3rd (it is not very clear) at the bottom of the flower stalk there are two three root like things which is white in color I will post a macro of it later. I have not removed the dry flower stalk and the roots are still there.