Leafless dendrobium canes

[flanso]

When repotting a crowded dendrobium, should leafless canes be removed?

[tom499]

I guess it would depend how old and manky they are.

And if they have flowered? Depending on the type of den. I would personally leave them on till all life has gone and they start falling off themselves..

[Tobi]

Do not throw out or trim off your leafless canes that are still alive unless shriveled
and dead because they may surprise you with new shoots leading to a spray of
blooms.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Seems that I just answered a question like this. Leave them on. Leafless canes can still bloom again, even if they bloomed before. It is common to have Dens bloom on three canes at a time. When the plant finally gets large enough to divide or remove old back bulbs, those old canes will make new plants. Minimum number of mature canes in a row on the front division is 3.

[plucker]

I would never cut off old canes on den's as I have seen the old ones produce flowers too often.
Currently I have a den fools gold 'mashina' that has one flower spike dying off on the newest cane. There is a second flower spike growing on the same cane and a third one growing on last years cane, which is leafless.

[made4engineering]

Leave them on. They are more important to the plant than the new canes.

[jerrymeola]

The fact that you said this is a crowded pot lets me say that I would normally remove many of the old canes.

Remember I am commercial and customers do not like to see leafless canes. I remove a lot more than most. If the plant is big and lots of healthy canes the chance that the plant will ever need the old canes is minimal.

Trimming roots, removing old growth and dividing are everyday occurrences in a commercial setting.

[janet_a]

personally i leave them on if they're still green, under the assumption they're contributing to the plant as a whole. but if i had a really big plant with lots of healthy, producing canes, i might whack off a couple of the old ones if they were starting to dry out and i were repotting it. otherwise i leave th canes till they turn brown/yellow then cut them down as far as i can get. (this on non-nobile types.)

i've got one in this situation now; longest cane is about three feet, and it's happily growing another one, and well, my kitchen ain't that big. repotting it's going to be just LOVELY i'm sure.

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by flanso

When repotting a crowded dendrobium, should leafless canes be removed?

No, they should not be removed. The canes, though leafless, still store water and nutrients. When the plant is finished with them they will shrivel up and die off, then they can be removed.

You don't say what kind of dendrobium you have, but many types of dendrobium flower off of leafless canes. So removing them cold also reduce your flower count.

[orchid_girl]

The only way I would think you would remove them would be if they were dried up and dead. If they are still green they are giving nutrients to the rest of the plant.

[switchblade]

They Help To Store Food And Water Don't They????

[Rocinante]

If it turns brown, cut it down...

[jay]

Those two leafless canes will still hold food and water for the whole plant. Unless it is truly dead or rotting I say leave it.