Can someone help? I am in over my head with this!!

[brookn]

I got my shipment of plants yesterday. Well, my free plant is a Den. Sabin Blue x compactum. I have read the cultural notes on it, but what should i pot in? Anybody familiar with this type den? i have not been able to find a pic of it or anything. Oh and it is in spike and one of the bud has turned yellow with the rest of them green. I know they came from FL so I am also wondering how much sun to give. Ahhhh! I was so hoping it would not be a den. I am terrified that I am going to kill it. Please heeelp.

I have one more question now that I am done with the hysterics. I got my phal bellina with this shipment. I was supposed to be NBS, but it has previously bloomed. Here's the thing, the spike is yellow, and I know that you are not supposed to cut them on the bellina cause they will rebloom from the same spike. I am afraid it is a goner it is banana yellow. If it gets cut off will the plant ever bloom again? Should I cut or should I leave it.

As always any help is deeply appreciated.

[pikevi]

brookn: I am sorry I don't know how to link you to other threads. kmarch had a thread about dendrobium culture.

Please search foo dendrobium culture and you have a host of info there, including his.

I hope it helps.

[brookn]

Pikevi i read the den culture, but my concern is do I use bark? I see that everyone is using it so I am jumping in. This thing is making me panic, I was not ready to try a den after hearing all of the den questions. Panic panic deep breath. Okay, on my way to pot it up. Bark it is. Think I just need someone to tell me what kind it is and tell me I will be fine hee hee. Thanks for getting back to me.

[pikevi]

I have about 15 Paphs. All are potted in coconut husk chunks. I think most experienced people like kmarch recommend addition of moss.

I plan to re-pot them all in a mix of perlite, coconut husk, sphagnum moss and , maybe a bit od charcoal, soon.

Good luck.

[Tobi]

Brookn,
I have several Dendrobiums. I couln't find anything on the Sabin blue parent,
but the compactum could be a biggibum var. compactum parent. If so it's
a Phal. type Dendrobium. medium bark with perlite, charcoal is ideal. Does not
need a winter rest period like the Nobile types. Bright light. Filtered Southern
exposure. Dry between waterings.

[brookn]

Tobi thank you! That is what i just potted in. I followed my instincts on it mostly, cause i did not know for sure what type it is. If it is a phal type does it take less light? The Phal table is out of room, and all the catts, oncid, and mtdm are going outside. I will look around now and see what else I can find about it. Mostly I am panicing cause shh don't tell anyone...dens scare the c@#p out of me. The good news is that the yellowing on the bud is turning green again, so i must have done something to make it happy.

You Rock!

Thanks again pikevi. Hopefully fred and kevin will weigh in later, I am pretty sure they are in bed right now. Kevin be gentle i don't know nuthin bout no stinkin dens hee hee.

[Tobi]

Brookn,
It should take the same bright indirect light as the others. Water weekly when dry and it should reward you greatly with lots of gorgeous blooms. Don't let it
scare you. Dends (especially Phal types) are qiuite easy to culture

[brookn]

Thanks Tobi, be sure to say I told you so if I manage not to kill it. I am now shuffling the phals around hoping for enough room to squeeze one more plant. It is getting crowded in here. Orchidmania is now taking over my desk as well.

[Sharyn]

Brookn: Our friend Tobi is right. Your mix is fine for the den. I've recently started to add a bit of cocconut chunks to mine - they seem to like it. I was also intimidated by dendrobiums and found that they are truly one of the easiest orchids to grow - once I learned to give them the right light and the right watering, they took off like weeds. You'll find dens a very rewarding orchid. Good luck with yours.

[brookn]

Thanks Sharyn. Much appreciated.

[Anton]

I have mine in a medium bark, coir and sphag mix and they love it.

Like Sharyn said, don't panic, they ARE very easy plants to grow. I use the skewer method on mine and it works a treat. I tend to let them get fairly dryish before each watering.

Durind flowering periods, I use a liquid fertilizer once every two weeks, and about once a month a complete flush through with fresh water to get rid of the build up of salts.

There are no worries, you know what to do at the slightest hint of a problem.......

[brookn]

Thanks Anton, yes I know where to go. Well i gotta dash, I am going to a barbeque. Meat on the barby, unfortunately no crays, blueys, or prawns. BTW I am still slightly terrified of the little bugger. It is getting better though.
Anyone have any thoughts on my other question about my bellina? Thanks in advance.

[fred]

hi brook
you can pot the Dens in a fine bark mix that will be good for your dens.
you are doing a good job with your new orchids
well done

you are going to a barbeque how could you.

you are going to leave your orchids at home all by themselfs

its Fathers Day you can not do that to your or kids hehe

enjoy your barbeque

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by brookn

I got my shipment of plants yesterday. Well, my free plant is a Den. Sabin Blue x compactum. I have read the cultural notes on it, but what should i pot in? Anybody familiar with this type den?

Brookn, our Den is a Phal-type Den, one of the most common lines of Den breeding. The AOS culture sheet on Dens is geared to this type so you can get good cultural info there (www.aos.org). It will tell you how much light and how wet/dry so you can gauge what you should pot it in. The "compactum" parent is probably Den biggibum var. compactum. It's a small-plant variety of the regular biggibum, native to Australia I might add, which is one of the species used in Phal-type Den breeding.

Originally Posted by brookn

I got my phal bellina ..., the spike is yellow, and I know that you are not supposed to cut them on the bellina cause they will rebloom from the same spike. I am afraid it is a goner it is banana yellow. If it gets cut off will the plant ever bloom again? Should I cut or should I leave it.

If this plant looses this spike it will grow more. I once saw one of these at an orchid nursery that had about 7 spikes on it (big plant). It is recommended that we not cut them off because, unlike most of the Phals we commonly see, these bloom in a sequential fashion and will continue to put out one flower after another for some time. If the plant were mine, I'd let the spike die off naturally and when it was dead, brown and dried up, I'd snio it off. You'll have to wait until it acclimates to your conditions and gets to its next blooming cycle to see flowers.

[brookn]

Thanks so much Kevin, as always you are full of useful information. I will leave the spike alone. It is strange though, when I got home and took a look at it, parts were turning green, but others were turning black on the spike. I will go and look at the AOS, I thnk I may have already downloaded it though.

Fred yes I left them home, but I left Rance to guard them. "Good dog, give them the T.V., but if they touch the orchids bite them" lol. Thanks for the kind words. I used your technique on the bellina and the Penang Girl, I forgot to put the rooting hormone on the bellina. When I took it out of the pot it came right out, and the sphag was in a nice ball around the roots. Whoo hoo. They are tiny plants right now, and I was suprised that the bellina had already bloomed once. The old bloom was still attached to the spike.

[fred]

Originally Posted by brookn

Fred yes I left them home, but I left Rance to guard them. "Good dog, give them the T.V., but if they touch the orchids bite them" lol. Thanks for the kind words. I used your technique on the bellina and the Penang Girl, I forgot to put the rooting hormone on the bellina. When I took it out of the pot it came right out, and the sphag was in a nice ball around the roots. Whoo hoo. They are tiny plants right now, and I was suprised that the bellina had already bloomed once. The old bloom was still attached to the spike.

I am pleased that you found my technique useful.

was the bellina suposed to be a seedling ?

seeing that the bellina has flowered thats better for you.

you have got your big tough puppy on gard duty i did not see him when you were out lol

he must have liked the TV program better hehe

[brookn]

Fred the bellina was supposed to be BS or NBS. Maybe it just looks small compared to some of the other monster phals I have.

Give Rance his favorite snack and call him by name and he would probably let you take whatever you wanted. BTW his favorite snack is whatever is in the bottom of the trash can lately. Chase it with toilet water and he's good lol. He actually got my desk drawer open the other day and ate my fig newtons while I was at work. Need to teach him to re