Den Questions

[lissie0113]

so when i was in hawaii in may, i brought home some baby orchids that have been growing well on my windowsill since then. one of them is a Den. Yellow song 'canary' and just last night i noticed some new small growths on it, one just above each leaf on the large cane, and then one on the smaller, leafless cane. i was wondering what they were (i was told this plant was too young to bloom for a couple of more years) and was hoping someone could identify it for me! here are some pics:

[lissie0113]

i also have a second question about another den of mine. this is a plant that i was given about 2 years ago as a gift. it never bloomed again, but when i moved to tampa about 9 months ago from miami, i repotted it in a basket and it has been growing like crazy since. for the past couple of weeks it has been growing a spike and i was so excited! but the very tip of the spike has turned a little yellowish brown, and i was wondering if the colder weather we've had here couldve ruined my spike-in-progress (even though i bring them inside when it gets really cold) or if something else could have been problematic? or maybe it is fine? please help......

PS sorry if it is hard to see the tip of the spike, any closer-up and the photos were really blurry even on my macro-closeup mode.

[digitalgate]

first picture - OOOoooo flowers..cane type Dendrobium, you can get a lot of babies from
this.
second picture - you could have mechanically hit the flower spike and caused the plant to
abort flowering. Keep your finger cross that you get another.

[lissie0113]

should i leave it alone, wait and see what this spike does? or cut it off? and wow, flowers on the first one? i thought thats what it looked like, but it is such a baby!

[articuno75]

Your Canary looks to have buds. Nah, That's how big mine is and it budded. Mine unfortunately blasted, but one of the spikes keikied.

Cooky thing spat out some more buds so YAY!!! Going to give it another go!

[kmarch]

lissie, judging from your photos your dendrobiums appear to be quite healthy and happy. Other members will weigh in on your questions too but I believe your Den Yellow Song is in bud. These are what we call nobile-type dendrobiums and one of their characteristics is to flower all along the cane just where your little nubs have appeared. So I think you have flowers in your future with that one. Congratulations!

With your second one, it looks to me like your spike may unfortunately be blasting. Sometimes this happens and it can be tough to know exactly why. It could have been the cold snap as this type of den is not as cold-tolerant as the Yellow Song. I suppose it could also have been damaged as digitalgate suggests. On the bright side, at least you know for certain that you can get this one to spike too! If you got it to spike here, you can get it to spike again.

Please keep us posted on your progress with the buds and flowers! We love to see buds and flowers!

[LauraGR]

I have a Canary Yellow and I absolutely love it! Looks like someone was giving you the conservative answer about bloom expectations, and you got a happy plant. Sit back and enjoy! My yellow and a bunch of other Nobile-types are starting to bud too!

[lissie0113]

Could anyone give me an idea of how long these little spikes take to develop? Just curious..... Im so excited to see them!

[kmarch]

They can take several weeks. The last nobile-type den I flowered first showed its little nubs in mid-July and it flowered in late October so that was about 13-14 weeks.

[lissie0113]

i guess this will be an exercise in patience. thanks!

[solay]

Congrats on the buds. I hope you get a new spike to replace the blasted one. I'll be waiting for the bloom pics.

[ALJ]

Congratulations! Can't wait to see the pics. I would love to see buds on my dendrobiums. I've had them for almost a year and I've been waiting for something to happen. I hope I get to see them bud soon.

[trinigirl]

Hi, congratulations on getting your dens to spike. Your nobile type definitely has buds. My sister has one of those and her buds look at about the same stage as yours. You are doing great.


In the hanging basket one, the buds look like they have gotten damaged from being outside in the cold. For this type of dendrobium that are in bud, you have to protect the buds from cold. I have the same thing happening with several of mine that have buds close to opening. I thought high 40s was okay at night to leave them out, but that proved to be too cold for the buds. I have left the spike on though, maybe the spike will keep growing. I would say bring the plant in at night whenever the weather gets below 55 or so.

Keep us posted.

[elitebettas]

Love nobile type dens,mine put out buds and 2 new growths at the same time (all one plant), enjoy your flowers Below is Yellow Song Canary in bloom now

[lissie0113]

Yay! I am so excited for mine to bloom like that!

[lissie0113]

so everyday i check as soon as i get home from work.... and every day those spikes are a little bit bigger. But after they develop and bloom and eventually fade away.... should i repot this little 'canary'? when i bought it in hawaii.... they told me it should be good for a year in the small pot (2 1/2in). but it is getting top heavy (thus the double potting in the photo) and i have to water it 4-5 days a week because the medium is bone dry.... i think its happy right now, but would it be the time to repot right after it blooms, or should i let it stay rootbound (ive heard dens like that ) ?

[lmartiny]

Melissa. I just bought a little Nobile den from Jerry at the Sarasota show.
It is about 8-9 inches tall and is blooming. Looks like it's got more spikes coming out as well, which is one reason I picked it out of the bunch. It is a Yamamoto den per a note from Jerry. Called Den Himezadura 'Sanokku'
an early flowerer. It is a hardy little fellow based on Jerry's information. Look for his comments on the Sarasota Orchid Show thread. It can take hot to cold, dry to wet and sun to shade. The hardier the better if under my care.



But as I write this I'm thinking maybe not all nobile dens have the same requirements. But I would think they'd be similar.

[lmartiny]

Here are some photos. I think they are new spikes. Plus there is a bud.
(I've already got some browning happening on the flowers and yellowing leaf) Not sure if it's liking it's new home. I'll water it tomorrow.
Den Himezakura 'Sanokku'

new spike?

back side view, more spikes?