09-03-2003, 12:21 AM
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questions from new orchid lover
(Charlin) wrote in message . com...
I'm hoping for some basic guidance. I have a dendrobium orchid rescued
from the local garden centers "clearance" rack that has finished
blooming. What do I do I can for it now to insure that it will bloom
again? Do I cut anything back? Where can someone go on the web for
basic information such as this? Please advise and thanks very much.
charlotte
While not normally recommended, I have learned from experience that
especially with plants like the one you describe, it is best to repot
immediately. Get yourself some coconut husk chips, a clay pot, and
some rooting hormone, and then remove the plant from the pot it is in.
Since it is not in bloom, you are not likely to lose anything doing
this, and this will allow you to see what kind of shape the roots, and
the potting medium, are in.
Do not cut anything that is not dead. Dendrobiums are in my
conditions incredibly robust. I have never yet killed one. I have
come close to losing one cattleya, and have lost another, and I have
lost a couple phalaenopsis, but never a dendrobium. Perhaps the
operative word there ought to be "yet". ;-)
But the roots are the key. Coming from a garden centre, you can have
no idea what shape the roots are in unless you repot. Sometime, you
get lucky and find that the plant was well potted and that the medium
and the roots are in perfect condition. Often that is not the case.
If the roots are in good shape, you won't need to bother with the
rooting hormone, but if there is significantly less healthy root than
there is green tissue, you should apply the hormone to the healaty
root and that part of the cane that was below the surface of the
potting medium, since you want to stimulate the existing healthy root
to grow, and you want to stimulate the meristem in the bottom part of
the cane to produce new roots.
That said, I am interested in hearing what advice people will have
regarding getting dendrobiums to rebloom. I have rebloomed phals and
cattleyas, but not my dendrobiums. They are, at present, a large mass
of reasonably healthy green tissue (and all had lots of healthy roots
the last time I checked).
HTH
Ted
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