Giant Dendrobium needs potting

[ldk]

My magnificent dendrobium has two stalks of about 30", then add the flower spikes of about 20 inches qualifies it for giant. It is planted in an 8" pot and since it is so top heavy, I purchased a tall clay pot and set the 8" plastic into it to give the stalks some stability. It began flowering before Thanksgiving with three flower spikes from one stalk. Since then, the stalk from 2010 produced a flower spike with more than a dozen flowers. The flowers from before Thanksgiving are still in bloom. I LOVE this plant! The plant has not been re-potted in a few years and whether it has room to produce another stalk for this year is a good question. If it needs to be re-potted I can't imagine what type of pot it should be in and if the existing stalks should be covered with some time of potting medium so it is not so top-heavy going forward. Even if I were to plant it in the clay pot I am using for stability, the flower stalks would continue to be a problem, I think.

I've tried 3 times to upload pictures with no luck.

Thanks for any input you have about my giant!

[bearded orchid]

Hard to say without a picture to relate to. Have you tried uploading through Photobucket?

[ldk]

I am trying again. I've just e-mailed the pictures to myself. Maybe the re-sizing will do the trick.

[ldk]

I hope the two pictures uploaded okay.

[bearded orchid]

Yay, they loaded!
I wouldn't put it in that large of a pot. Dens like to be a little pot bound and as a result can be hard to keep upright. You want to stick them in a container that just accommodates the roots, so depending on what you find when you pull it out you may use the same container, a slightly larger one, or even a smaller one if some of the roots are bad.

With that in mind, you can also over pot it but make sure to fill the bottom of the pot with rocks to help weigh it down.

[ldk]

Thanks, Phil. I can't imagine using a smaller pot but I guess I'll see when the time comes to pull it out of there. I will wait until the blooms are finished and will have the rocks ready!

[bearded orchid]

Good plan. That should be a good time to take it out and look it over. As for not imagining that big a plant in a smaller pot, just take a gander at my Den. Emma White



That is a 3.5in pot and the tallest cane is about 17in tall.
A sharpie for reference.

[bearded orchid]

I forgot to mention earlier, when you repot it you will need to make sure the rhizome (the area that connects all the canes together) isn't covered with medium. It should be resting just on top of the media. If it is below, it can encourage rot on new developing shoots.

[ldk]

Thanks for that information. I am pretty new with orchids and my repotting skills need work.

[-k-]

Yeah I wouldn't use a bigger pot for it, It will do fine in it's current pot size as it seems to have plenty of space to grow... If the media has broken down just freshin it up with a new mix using the same size pot. If top heavy is a problem just drop the whole plant (pot and all) into a steardy ceramic display pot to keep it from tipping over.
Love the blooms btw... beautiful...

[Fishmom]

Another thing you might try, to improve the stability, is to use twine, masking tape, or wire to gently pull the canes toward each other. Over time they will become more upright, which makes it easier to balance and move the plant around.