Dend. kingianum

[Hummer344]

My Dend. Kingianum is loosing leaves at a great rate. Its acting like it got frost bitten but it hasn't been that cold here & it has been protected on my front poarch. A little morning sun then filtered light the rest of the morning then shade during the afternoon. Leaves just dryed up and fell off. Probably 80% of the leaves. I checked the potting medium and it wasn't all that bad and the roots were all right but not great. Since I had it out I re-potted it in a clean potting mix. Figured that it was in shock anyway, new potted stuff wouldn't hurt it now. Any ideas what is going on?
Thanks
david

[Anton]

David, they have a habit of doing that, they shed old leaves at a great rate between seasons. Mine lost most of their leaves over winter, and now we are in late Spring, they are regenerating new growths everywhere.

[kmarch]

Hummer,

Den kingianum is a species orchid and therefore the species name is not capitalized. If you have questions about what is capitalized and what is not in orchid names check out: http://www.orchidgeeks.com/forum/gen...capitalization

Regarding your leaf loss, has it stopped? I have a kingie seedling that started dying off, leaf loss and psbulb shriveling. It has about 6 canes, lost all but one then stopped and now it is vigorously growing new roots and a shoot. I've not identified the cause as of yet.

[tom499]

My Den kingianum rarely drops a leaf.

The mature canes have 4-6 leaves two thirds of the way along every cane, and are bright green all year. It has maybe 15 canes.

[pikevi]

My recently bloomed D.nobile is dropping its leaves on 2 of the five stems. But the good news is that I see 3-4 new growths starting from the base.

I remember reading that shedding old leaves and starting new growths is NORMAL in Dens.

I hope yours is undergoing such a cycle, Hummer344

Good luck.

[Hummer344]

Thanks for the replys. I am hoping that mey den. just dropped its leaves as a matter of course but this is the first time this plant has done this. Seems as though there are competing theries about whether this is normal (Anton vs Tom). Tincture of time is the order for the day.

On another note!!!!!! I see that Kmarch has corrected the capitaliztion on orchid names once again. If I were showing my orchids this would be of improtance to me. Since I am not it just doesn't matter. I don't know where this following quote came from but a friend sent it to me.
"IF you find any mistakes in my writings, please consider they are there for a purpose. I write something for evenyone and some people are always looking for mistakes. I wouldn't want them to be disappointed. I aim to please my readers.

[articuno75]

Originally Posted by Hummer344

Thanks for the replys. I am hoping that mey den. just dropped its leaves as a matter of course but this is the first time this plant has done this. Seems as though there are competing theries about whether this is normal (Anton vs Tom). Tincture of time is the order for the day.

On another note!!!!!! I see that Kmarch has corrected the capitaliztion on orchid names once again. If I were showing my orchids this would be of improtance to me. Since I am not it just doesn't matter. I don't know where this following quote came from but a friend sent it to me.
"IF you find any mistakes in my writings, please consider they are there for a purpose. I write something for evenyone and some people are always looking for mistakes. I wouldn't want them to be disappointed. I aim to please my readers.

It's not that, and please don't take it personally or harsh. But many people are simply just typing nomenclatures incorrectly. I myself am a newbie at this. I like to see the corrections and praise Kmarch for doing this. I want to make sure that I'm doing this correctly not only as an amateur, but a hobbyist and collector. If everyone were to start just typing any way they wanted we simply wouldn't have normal language and grammer we have and ebonics would take over the world.

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by pikevi

I remember reading that shedding old leaves and starting new growths is NORMAL in Dens.

Sheading leaves in Dens is normal in SOME Dens. There's so much variety in Dens. I have kingianums, a nobile-type, moniliforme, some Aussie native hybrids, tetragonums, chrysotoxum, occulata, and an acinaciforme (which is a bit of an oddball - they'll probably give it a different genus at some point).

Out of all of those, only the nobile-type and occulata predictably loose their leaves. The tetragonums loose leaves, but only one here, one there at any time during the year.

All of my other Dendrobiums have persistent leaves, some of them on growths several years old.

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by Hummer344

"IF you find any mistakes in my writings, please consider they are there for a purpose. I write something for evenyone and some people are always looking for mistakes. I wouldn't want them to be disappointed. I aim to please my readers.

I'm not sure what purpose is served by intentionally posting incorrect information. I assure you correcting mistakes in orchid nomenclature on this forum is not the only thing I have to do. This is why I try ot teach orchid hobbiests the correct names. The vast majority of them are eager to learn, appreciate the corrections and information and even thank me.

Please keep in mind that whether we like it or not, people, especially newbies, view this forum as a place for authoritative info on orchids and as such we have a responsibility to provide them with correct information whenever possible.

[joan gero]

And you do it so well, Kevin... many of us appreciate it enormously (and then on to make some of the same mistakes again... and again. Sigh).

[Andrew]

In my experience, kingie canes will lose their leaves after a few years (as will most orchids but losing 80% of the leaves does sound like a problem). Based on your description of the light, it doesn't sound like too much sun. If the roots don't indicate any signs of rot, perhaps you're not giving it enough water. Are the canes shriveled at all? They do like regular watering during the growing season and, if your area routinely gets summer temps above 80F, daily watering on those days isn't unreasonble especially if you're growing it outdoors. Even when giving them a 'dry winter' you still need to give them a bit of water every few weeks to keep them in good condition.

[pikevi]

Thank you , kmarch.

I did not know that there is a distinct difference amongst various species/hybrids of Dens.

Hummer344: I think it is a well intended correction by kmarch. I used to (and still do to some extent) think the same way as you do but with so many hybrids that are coming out the 'proper' names may be of paramount importance , especially when it comes to targeted advice.

The case in point is this thread itself.

I am sure your Den is going through a normal phase of dropping leaves. Please let us know what happens. Thanks.