Dendrobium spectible

[chidfix]

Hi, Just picked this one up from kawamato orchids in Hawaii. I was attracted by the unusual blooms. Everything I have heard is that this one is tough to get to flower. Livin here in South Florida I believe gives me an advantage, and I am up to the challange. I was told the plant was at least six years old, it has 10 plus canes and stands 22" tall. Any tips I could get would be much appreciated. I will keep you posted.

[Fishmom]

Nice plant, and it looks plenty big enough to bloom. The canes on mine are about 16-18" from the top of the pot. Give it generous light, almost as much as a catt. I'm not sure if it is just the picture, but the leaves look darker than mine, which has bloomed for 2 years running. I fertilize "weakly, weekly". Do you know if the plant has bloomed yet?

By the way, if you want to search for more info, it's spelled "spectabile".

[chidfix]

Originally Posted by Fishmom

Nice plant, and it looks plenty big enough to bloom. The canes on mine are about 16-18" from the top of the pot. Give it generous light, almost as much as a catt. I'm not sure if it is just the picture, but the leaves look darker than mine, which has bloomed for 2 years running. I fertilize "weakly, weekly". Do you know if the plant has bloomed yet?

By the way, if you want to search for more info, it's spelled "spectabile".

Thanks alot for the info and the correct spelling. I dont see any evidence that it has bloomed before.

[terra_australis]

Yeah agree... plenty of light. If it hasn't bloomed already that could be the reason. The leaves being dark green means that it hasn't had optimal light previously. At least you're starting with a mature plant - I have 2 seedlings about 4cm tall. It will be a while before mine are ready to flower!

[plantloverlisa]

Very nice, I have bought some very nice orchids from them. Dendian has one, maybe she will chime in.

[ArtGeekMark]

Looks nice, good luck! I got my partner a baby one for his birthday, it'll probably bloom in fifteen years.

[Dendian]

Sorry, can't help you - I haven't a clue why mine bloomed...

I got mine from Kawamoto too, blooming size, .. and all of a sudden it had a spike (which took FOREVER to bloom). I didn't think it was hard to bloom until I read here on the forum it was.. so either I did something right and didn't know it - or Kawa had optimal conditions and it decided to bloom anyways - to spite me.

If it never blooms again.. then it will be the second option... - and then I will be searching out why...

[orchids4me]

Nice pick up keep us posted on how yours goes. Fishmom gave some good advice for you there.
Good luck!

[BGGraham1]

I saw this one at the SBOE show last Saturday. It was gorgeous, and I found it very difficult to ignore its siren song! The only thing that stopped me from walking out with it was a potting class that promised a free orchid if you participated.

[jerrymeola]

I grow a lot of them and they are not harder just different.

First lots of light - more Vanda than Dendrobium. I grow all mine in the Vanda house.

Lots of fertilizer but I believe this for all orchids with a few exceptions.

Treat for thrips. This is the biggest problem. Hobbyist do not know the plant started to bloom and thrips ate the spike when it was only a 1/4 or 1/2 inch. Thrips love Dendrobium and Den. spectabile more than most. They bloom in South Florida in Early spring which is prime thrip season.

I find that when I buy large blooming plants from Hawaii they then to skip the first season in Florida, whereas my 4 inch pots flower quickly. Probably the change in conditions gives it only a half year to recover from flowering in Hawaii. I have a full tutorial on the care of these if you want to send me a PM I will send the link.

ArtGeekMark we can flower 2 inch pots in three seasons.

The dark green leaves are not necessarily a sign of inadequate light as these seem to always have dark leaves even in my Vanda house. But high light is the key.

[koshki]

Chidfix, welcome to Orchid Geeks!

I've bought several plants from Kawamoto and have had great luck with all of them. One recent one is half den spectibile (White Grace) and I love it! Good luck with yours, it looks like a great plant!

[terra_australis]

Originally Posted by terra_australis

Yeah agree... plenty of light. If it hasn't bloomed already that could be the reason. The leaves being dark green means that it hasn't had optimal light previously. At least you're starting with a mature plant - I have 2 seedlings about 4cm tall. It will be a while before mine are ready to flower!

Originally Posted by jerrymeola

The dark green leaves are not necessarily a sign of inadequate light as these seem to always have dark leaves even in my Vanda house. But high light is the key.

Yes, sorry, I didn't phrase that very well... Dark green leaves may indicate the plant has not had adequate light however some Dendrobiums will naturally have darker leaves than others. The PNG types like this with leathery sort of leaves are usually darker green than Asiatics like Den. nobile. Sorry it's a little hard to judge from the picture.