Dendrobium kingianum

[BGGraham1]

Hi all! So, I wanted to join in the challenge, and got the Encyclia (whatever) fragrans and the Sedirea japonica, but I really liked this Dendrobium kingianum. I loved everything about it and hope that I can get it to grow for me. Its such a cutie right now...

[Onleme]

If you kill a kingianum then you shouldn't be growing Orchids
It will take from light frost to + 40c, give it 50% shade water and fert. They like filtered sunlight not just light. They like being mounted. If you want something tougher than a kingi then get a Den speciosum, they take full sun and the same temps

Steve

[BGGraham1]

Thank you for your advice. I will do my very best to give this what it needs. I have killed a few Phals in the past, but everything I have now is green and thriving. A lot of it has to do with the things I have learned from you guys in this forum. The watering, fertilizing, little tips and tricks....its mind-boggling!

I don't have a greenhouse or a shadehouse, and no room to put one in my backyard. I do have a sunroom with a south facing window that is partially blocked by the neighbor's house. That's where my Phals are right now next to the window and they are growing like they never have before.

Would you say the Den would be closer to a Phal in wants and needs, or closer to my Cyms? They are on my side patio and get full sun for about 3-4 hours in the morning, then dappled sun for an hour or two, then shade for the rest of the afternoon.

I'm not sure about the mounting right now. But do I have time to make that decision? If it starts growing in a pot, could I take it out and mount it later, or do they need to start out that way?

[Onleme]

Put it with the Cyms as that is closer to its needs, water well in the morning when the pot is near dry
Mount it any time, they are tough as
Steve

[terra_australis]

Originally Posted by Onleme

Put it with the Cyms as that is closer to its needs, water well in the morning when the pot is near dry
Mount it any time, they are tough as
Steve

Yeah, I'll second that. Make sure it gets plenty of light.

[orchids4me]

Nice pick up! These are sweeeet!!!

[plantloverlisa]

Hi Brigitte,
they smell sooooo good, it is a great one to grow. I had one out under the oak trees on the ground and it grew several years out there. Then it got down to 24F one night and I forgot to double cover it. Well you can guess what happened to it. Now I have them up on porch, no more kingycicles!

[BGGraham1]

We don't get that cold here - sunny So California and all - so my biggest concern would be too much sun and the watering requirements.

[terra_australis]

I keep on hearing people comment on their nice scent but I've never noticed it on any of mine... is it something specific to certain cultivars?

[BluPeaches]

Cute little thing!
About how long before it is blooming size?

[Onleme]

Originally Posted by BGGraham1

We don't get that cold here - sunny So California and all - so my biggest concern would be too much sun and the watering requirements.

It will be fine, give it the same treatment as the Cyms

[Onleme]

Originally Posted by BluPeaches

Cute little thing!
About how long before it is blooming size?

Probably next year if it has a good grow season

They have scent, more noticable in the afternoon an a sunny day. No where near as strong as the Den speciosums though

Steve

[BGGraham1]

Originally Posted by Onleme

Probably next year if it has a good grow season

They have scent, more noticable in the afternoon an a sunny day. No where near as strong as the Den speciosums though

Steve

LOL! That's the big "IF"! I am really excited about these new babies, and hope that I have the touch. I'll keep you all posted.

[BGGraham1]

So, I was going to repot this little one over the weekend and got too caught up in all of the information. Steve, you suggested that they like to be mounted. I'm not confident that I can pull that off but, in the interest of the project I'm going to try.

Here is my question: We have some really interesting driftwood on the beach here, and I was thinking about using that. How long do I need to soak it to get the salts out? If this is going to be problematic, I may try another kind of wood, but I understand that you still need to soak it to get the "tannins" out? Time frame for that? I also saw an interesting cork mount from repotme.com that caught my eye. Would that work?

Ahhh, so much to learn....

[terra_australis]

Originally Posted by BGGraham1

So, I was going to repot this little one over the weekend and got too caught up in all of the information. Steve, you suggested that they like to be mounted. I'm not confident that I can pull that off but, in the interest of the project I'm going to try.

Here is my question: We have some really interesting driftwood on the beach here, and I was thinking about using that. How long do I need to soak it to get the salts out? If this is going to be problematic, I may try another kind of wood, but I understand that you still need to soak it to get the "tannins" out? Time frame for that? I also saw an interesting cork mount from repotme.com that caught my eye. Would that work?

Ahhh, so much to learn....

I don't think I would use drift wood from the ocean... who knows how long it has been in there and how deep the salt has leeched into it. I generally see them mounted on treefern slabs (Cyathea if I remember correctly). Mostly though they are grown in bark mix. Mouting can be problematic since it is difficult to keep enough moisture on the roots. Den. kingianum is generally known as a lithophyte and grows in the leaf litter collected on top of boulders. Large plants can handle exposed roots but I wouldn't try it with a seedling. I'd stick to a medium fine bark mix with a bit of perlite.

[BGGraham1]

Ha! Thank you for that! I always like the look of the mounted orchids, but I don't know if I have the time to monitor and water constantly. I will just experiment with the Sedirea and pot up the Den. I really like it, and I saw that they can get really large. Maybe someday...

[BGGraham1]

So, I decided against the mount (for now), and repotted him into a clear, slotted pot (I need to go shopping! )
So here he is..

[Onleme]

Looks Good

Steve

[BGGraham1]

LOL!! Steve said it looks good!!!!
As I was repotting him, all I could think of was you saying "If you kill a kingianum, you shouldn't be growing orchids..."

I'm so new at all of this, every little step is a big one for me (covered in fear and sweat ) I am taking all of the advice here in, and really, really trying to grow something beautiful. So, thank you!! We'll see how it goes...

[Onleme]

As was said earlier, bright light, filtered sun, water when near dry, open airey bark mix, grow with the cyms and all will be honkey dorey, unless the cyms die

Steve

[koshki]

I picked up a two pb kingianum alba a while back and put it in s/h. Accidently knocked it out of the pot yesterday. All the roots are growing on top of the s/h, all the ones inside are dead, so I repotted it, not in s/h (I just don't seem to have the hang of that medium). As I was putting it in the new pot, I noticed it has several new PBs starting! It's now hanging outside, and I'm looking forward to watching it grow.

Brigitte, yours is very cute, and much bigger than mine. Hopefully we can both bring them into bloom.

[BGGraham1]

koshki, Good luck to us both! I really love the look of the flowers on this one, and I heard about the scent. Looking forward to that, too.

[BGGraham1]

So, I was going to change over some of my 'chids into coco husk chips, since I've been reading about some of the geeks having success with that medium. I took this guy out of the pot and was trying to get some of the random piece of bark off (that you can see in some of my repotting pics.)
After I soaked it really well and got all of the bark pieces off, there were TWO kingies in my hand!! One was really tiny.
So, in the interest of science, I potted the mini kingie in the chc, and left the bigger one in the bark / perlite mix. The chc seems to hold moisture longer, so I don't water them the same....

Here they are:

This is the mini


This is an overhead view of the bigger one


This is the two of them together


Some new roots, not much change otherwise....

[BGGraham1]

I think somebody's happy!!!! There's a little growth between the pbulbs...I just saw it today.

[Dendian]

Oh Brigitte... look closer... there's TWO new growths!!!!!!! (Outside of RH Pbulb - bottom)

[BGGraham1]

Originally Posted by Dendian

Oh Brigitte... look closer... there's TWO new growths!!!!!!! (Outside of RH Pbulb - bottom)

Wow!! I had to go look at the plant. I guess I need to pick up my new glasses, huh? That is awesome! Thanks for pointing it out Dian.

[terra_australis]

Yeah, I had the same thing the other day with my Den. atroviolaceum. I saw it had 2 new growths coming then I sat down to check it over for critters and noticed another 5!

You should get some new root formation when those growths get a bit bigger, then it should take off.

[Dendian]

Well, don't feel bad - If you hadn't had the camera on telephoto I probably wouldn't have seen that teeny tiny red pointy thing either. When you get your new glasses you might want to turn the plant around and check it again -- where there is two there might be... MORE!

I did the same thing today - was just looking at a Laelia species I got bare root that had been growing a new growth - and I looked over at another pbulb and there was a teeny green point coming out of that too! - it's GROWING TIME!

[berkeleysgr8]

I got a small Kingie plant as a bonus plant when I purchased plants from a fellow Orchid geek a couple years ago. It probably has 15 or more canes now. The one I was given has a wonderful scent! There is a place called Flowers by the Sea that has a large collection of Kingies and they sell the keikis quite cheap. I'm tempted to buy a lot of keikis from them... I just don't know where I'd put them all!

[Brisbanite]

This is my Dend. Kinganium. Was split into 2. Does very nicely in a pot. Very hardy. Lived under a tree for a few years, with no fert. or any special care, >>>>>>>>>until I became an avid orchid lover>>>>>>> Now thrives with tender care.

[BGGraham1]

So, I did go out and check again, and I found 2 more little nubs. I also checked the tiny kingie that split from the original, and IT has two little growths!
I can't imagine what I'll see when I can see! I was wearing my backup glasses while I was outside, so I put my good ones on when I went out to look at everyone again. HUGE difference!

[pikkumyy]

wow brisbanite, that has to be one of the biggest ones ive seen, mine is really small, ive heard that there are tall ones and short ones, is this right?

[terra_australis]

Yeah, depending on the cultivar they can be short or tall. There's also different colours in pseudobulbs too.

I just noticed one of mine has put out a bunch of racemes. Should be a good show in a few weeks.

[pikkumyy]

thanks dan, also what are racemes?

[terra_australis]

raceme = flower stem (but a little more fancy)

[Brisbanite]

Originally Posted by pikkumyy

wow brisbanite, that has to be one of the biggest ones ive seen, mine is really small, ive heard that there are tall ones and short ones, is this right?

I don't know Michael, I just assumed they were all alike. The above picture was taken 12 months ago. It is now double this size, just coming into bud now. Will post picture when in full bloom.

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by Brisbanite

This is my Dend. Kinganium.

Originally Posted by pikkumyy

wow brisbanite, that has to be one of the biggest ones ive seen,

This doens't look like a straight kingianum to me. It looks like a kingianum hybrid, possibly Bardo Rose or something like that.

Originally Posted by pikkumyy

ive heard that there are tall ones and short ones, is this right?

They do come with varying plant habits. I have one that's small and skinny, some that are small but fat, and one that's long and skinny.

[BGGraham1]

Update: Here are my little kingies...the first 3 pics are the larger of the two. The baby one is doing pretty well also...





The baby

[otis 226]

Looking very good, Brigitte. Mine seems happy out back in some dappled sun, but no new growth. I was told that they don't usually put out new growth this late in their season, but more in the spring after flowering... so much for that theory! As long as it stays healthy, I'll be happy.
continued Good Growing.
Tony

[pikkumyy]

very cool, they certainly like you, i love photo's

[berkeleysgr8]

I think different kingies have different growing patterns. I have one that has been blooming since March. Every time I think the show has come to an end, a new raceme appears! Meanwhile, another kingie that is getting exactly the same light, water, etc. is refusing to put out a single flower. Both plants are putting out a lot of new growths right now though (here's hoping that means I'll see even more flowers next year!).

[BGGraham1]

They are still hanging in there...the little one had a couple of new growths, and the larger of the two seems to be pretty happy also.

The baby



The larger one

[berkeleysgr8]

They're looking very "fat & happy"! Looks like they like their growing conditions!

[BGGraham1]

They are still alive, so far, and the new growth is about even with the older growth. I don't think I should be expecting much at this time of year, so I won't. (patience, Brigitte, patience!)

Here is the "big" one:






Here is the baby kingie:

[1joyceh]

doing a great job Brigitte!!
they look happy and healthy

[BGGraham1]

These little ones are just doing their thing. A couple of new growths here and there, slowly making their way towards filling the pots.

The "big one"




"Baby kingie"

[Soulcatcher157]

Beautiful little plant...and very very easy to grow. I've got several that grow inbetween the bras. and spaths to give them a bit of shade. But they can take some serious light. They are one of my all-time favorite dens, next to the Mem. Margary Ummer and the Ukadaruma (positive I've spelled that last one wrong, but too lazy to get up and look). Also, like stated before, they dont mind a bit of chill across their legs. Good luck.