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newbi, help with Dendrobium
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Posted by ivy_05 UT (My Page) on Sat, Feb 6, 10 at 20:50
| I got this orchid at Lowe's a few months ago and on its tag it says "exotic and everlasting Denrobium orchid, tolerant and thrives in low light OR high light" It was blooming and had about five canes coming from the pot. I bring it home and give it a little watering and after a week the flowers start to fall off, then I notice a black spot on one of the leaves. One spot turns into 3 and I do some research and think its a fungal infection so I get that anti-fungal(pyphon 20?) and apply. The blacks spots stop spreading but the leaves start to turn yellow and dry up after 9 days of giving the antifungal. All the leaves fall off except one. The one leave that is still there is near the base of one cane and its been green and healthy for over 3 months now. I was hoping the plant would recover. My question is: Did I kill the plant myself(overwatering)? Did the fungal infection get to the roots and kill the plant that way? or does this type of orchid go into hybernation for winter and timing just happen to be perfect? Any suggestions on how to proceed from here? Repot? root stimulation? time?
Thank you for your time and knowledge! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: newbi, help with Dendrobium
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| I've only grown orchids for a couple years, but find dendrobiums one of the hardest. Mine always get yellowing leaves after a short time. Other orchid types do better. I'm almost ready to toss my first den out into a snowbank. |
RE: newbi, help with Dendrobium
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| You probably have a warm growing hard-cane Dendrobium of some sort. Given good conditions the freshly opened flowers should last ages. Maybe find some complete cultivation notes notes on the net that relate to indoor growing in your climate zone. Is there any hope for your plant? Given good growing conditions a new growth should start from the base of the newest growth. But the road back may take ages. Perhaps do some research, buy a new plant and give it another try. |
RE: newbi, help with Dendrobium
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| It seems unlikely to me that you killed it. Even in bad conditions a Dendrobium will take longer than that to die. Any rot or fungus was there before you got it. It is quite possible to bring it back to health, but I suggest tossing it and trying again. Find out what day your store restocks. It is usually a particular day once a week. Straight off the truck they are usually ok because the wholesaler doesn't keep them very long. Ignore the LOW LIGHT option. Dendrobiums need lots of light and to be watered only when dry. |
RE: newbi, help with Dendrobium
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- Posted by donaldb 5B Worcester, MA (My Page) on
Mon, Feb 8, 10 at 13:24
If you haven't already kindly remove the plant from the pot it's in and check the roots to see if they're healthy.
They should be white. Common sense will give you a good idea what the problem is, if in fact there is one. I have nine different "dens" that thrive under different growing conditions. They are very hardy plants and will tolerate quite a bit. If the roots look healthy it won't hurt to soak them in a dilute soultion of Physan 20 that you already have. What type of growing medium is it planted in? |
RE: newbi, help with Dendrobium
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| We are assuming that your dendrobium bloomed from a spike at the tip of the cane and not up and down the cane, which would make it a hard cane dendrobium, as richardol says. As richardol also says, ignore the low light option. Dens need lots of light. Many dens are deciduous, and this is the time of year they lose their leaves. That, combined with a change of climate and culture, even possibly a blast of cold air, could have caused the rest of the leaves to fall. You did right applying the physan. As donaldb suggests, slip the plant out of the pot and check the roots. You are not necessarily looking for white roots, but for firm, plump roots. Soft or mushy or stringy and dry, not good. |
RE: newbi, help with Dendrobium
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| Completely agreed about the light level. I found that Dendrobium at the very minimum needs medium light level. Also, don't blame yourself too much; I found that if you buy orchids from places like Lowes or Home Depot, the roots are probably not in the best shape. If I do buy from them, after flowering, I would definitely repot the orchids to make sure the roots are not rotting. Here's some information about Dendrobium orchid. It tells you about Dendrobium's requirements and some background information. But I do agree with others that it might not be worth your while to save it since it would take so long (years) to recover a plant from that condition. Just go out and buy some more!! |
Here is a link that might be useful: Dendrobium orchid
RE: newbi, help with Dendrobium
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| Thank you all for your input. I think I will try to save it and try again on some new plants. V-day is coming up and is always a great opportunity to add to my collection! |
RE: newbi, help with Dendrobium
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| I hope you haven't pitched this plant. Dendrobiums don't take much of an environmental change to drop their leaves. However, if the canes remain green and firm, new growth will develope and when it matures and blooms, most likely you will also have bloom spikes on the old canes, too.They DO require high light to bloom. They don't like to have roots disturbed and I usually just put pot and all into a larger pot and fill in space with new media. I find aliflor a great media for dendrobiums. |
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