Dendrobium Question
 

Hello All.....

I'm sort of a newbie at this so any help is appreciated.

I received a dendro (that I think I've identified
http://www.orchidphotos.org/images/o...psis1_192.html)
with blooms as a gift in Feb. (mail order) and the blooms on the original
spike are almost gone. A new spike has emerged with a bloom and more buds.
Question: Is there a way to clip the first spike to encourage a secondary
flowering as is sometimes done with phals?.......or am I just being too
greedy?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Madeline

Dendrobium Question
 

Hi, Maddie,

I'll leave the identification issue alone, since there are so many hybrids
that look so much alike. But as for encouraging the Dendrobium spike to
rebloom by clipping it, no, it won't work. It sounds like your Dend is happy
(throwing out a new spike is a very good thing, LOL!), so just enjoy it.
Many Dends bloom almost continuously, so they make for a great deal of
satisfaction.

HTH

Diana

"Maddie" wrote in message
.. .
Hello All.....

I'm sort of a newbie at this so any help is appreciated.

I received a dendro (that I think I've identified
http://www.orchidphotos.org/images/o...psis1_192.html)
with blooms as a gift in Feb. (mail order) and the blooms on the original
spike are almost gone. A new spike has emerged with a bloom and more
buds. Question: Is there a way to clip the first spike to encourage a
secondary flowering as is sometimes done with phals?.......or am I just
being too greedy?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Madeline

Dendrobium Question
 

Madeline, I would endorse everything that Diana has said - clipping the spike
won't work with dendrobes; your plant is apparently very happy if it's sending
out a new spike. Since these types of dendrobes bloom in Autumn, and since
winter in their native habitat is usually quite dry, I suggest tapering off the
watering now, to no more than once weekly in winter, and then only on warm days
(they typically hate cold wet roots).

Not being as wise as Diana (hey! I'm an impulsive male!) I'll have a go at the
id. From your file name, your orchid is presumably tagged Dendrobium
phalaenopsis? "Phalaenopsis" as a dendrobium species name is bit of a can of
worms. It has been applied to a group of very similar species at different
times. These include one known only from the Tanimbar group of islands SW of
Irian Jaya, which the taxonomists now call D. striaenopsis; and the species
group from northern Australia and southern New Guinea, now known as the
Dendrobium bigibbum complex.

If the flowers on your plant are larger than 2" (5 cm) across it's probably D.
striaenopsis. But if they are smaller, I'd opt for the D. bigibbum complex.
Without knowing the size, your photo looks very like a quite nice D. bigibbum
var. superbum. The bigibbum group is commonly known as the "Cooktown Orchid"
because they grew commonly in the area around Cooktown in NE Australia.

On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 17:29:47 -0500, "Maddie"
wrote:

Hello All.....

I'm sort of a newbie at this so any help is appreciated.

I received a dendro (that I think I've identified
http://www.orchidphotos.org/images/o...psis1_192.html)
with blooms as a gift in Feb. (mail order) and the blooms on the original
spike are almost gone. A new spike has emerged with a bloom and more buds.
Question: Is there a way to clip the first spike to encourage a secondary
flowering as is sometimes done with phals?.......or am I just being too
greedy?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Madeline

Dave Gillingham
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To email me remove the .private from my email address.

Dendrobium Question
 

Thanks Diana and Dave. I'm starting to see what you mean about the ID's on
these. When it was delivered, the plant was not identified. I had to buy a
book just to identify it as a dendrobium. I just picked the
dendrobiumphalaenopsis off of the orchidphotos.org website because it looked
most like the one that I have.

Thanks again for your help and support.

Madeline

"Dave Gillingham" wrote in message
...
Madeline, I would endorse everything that Diana has said - clipping the
spike
won't work with dendrobes; your plant is apparently very happy if it's
sending
out a new spike. Since these types of dendrobes bloom in Autumn, and
since
winter in their native habitat is usually quite dry, I suggest tapering
off the
watering now, to no more than once weekly in winter, and then only on warm
days
(they typically hate cold wet roots).

Not being as wise as Diana (hey! I'm an impulsive male!) I'll have a go
at the
id. From your file name, your orchid is presumably tagged Dendrobium
phalaenopsis? "Phalaenopsis" as a dendrobium species name is bit of a can
of
worms. It has been applied to a group of very similar species at
different
times. These include one known only from the Tanimbar group of islands SW
of
Irian Jaya, which the taxonomists now call D. striaenopsis; and the
species
group from northern Australia and southern New Guinea, now known as the
Dendrobium bigibbum complex.

If the flowers on your plant are larger than 2" (5 cm) across it's
probably D.
striaenopsis. But if they are smaller, I'd opt for the D. bigibbum
complex.
Without knowing the size, your photo looks very like a quite nice D.
bigibbum
var. superbum. The bigibbum group is commonly known as the "Cooktown
Orchid"
because they grew commonly in the area around Cooktown in NE Australia.

On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 17:29:47 -0500, "Maddie"

wrote:

Hello All.....

I'm sort of a newbie at this so any help is appreciated.

I received a dendro (that I think I've identified
http://www.orchidphotos.org/images/o...psis1_192.html)
with blooms as a gift in Feb. (mail order) and the blooms on the original
spike are almost gone. A new spike has emerged with a bloom and more
buds.
Question: Is there a way to clip the first spike to encourage a secondary
flowering as is sometimes done with phals?.......or am I just being too
greedy?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Madeline

Dave Gillingham
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To email me remove the .private from my email address.

Dendrobium Question
 

Not being as wise as Diana (hey! I'm an impulsive male!)

And as Dave well knows, Diana is never impulsive! (Insert sarcasm emoticon
here)

Diana

Dendrobium Question
 

On Sun, 1 Jul 2007 14:02:29 -0400, "Diana Kulaga"
wrote:

Not being as wise as Diana (hey! I'm an impulsive male!)

And as Dave well knows, Diana is never impulsive! (Insert sarcasm emoticon
here)

Diana

But we love your impulsiveness! Mine tends to end up with putting my foot in
it. Hopefully my id was on the right track.
Dave Gillingham
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To email me remove the .private from my email address.