The Orchid Garden

Dendrobium Care Question

Question:

Brian, First, sounds like quite a plant!  Let me answer the cane question with a description of one of my own plants, Den. Canary Diamond.  This is a rangy plant, lots of canes.  Many of the old canes are bare and shrivelled.  I recently checked the plant over very well, and found that two of the old canes were soft.  That tells me that they are rotting, and I got rid of them, cutting back until I got all rotted material.  I treated the cuts with cinnamon and the plant is doing fine.  But the canes that are shrivelled and firm I left alone.  As long as they are not harming the plant in any way, they may be of some use in holding nutrients. Just my opinion. Diana

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –       I have recently purchased a Den. Polka ‘Orange Tower’. The plant has 7 canes, one is 18" tall with leaves on the top 6-8", four of which are approximately 18" tall and completely leafless. There are two canes which are still green, but *very* shriveled, one of which is only 3" and the other 6" tall  (one of the leafless 18" canes is in this condition, too).  All stand without requiring staking.       The plant has flowered, and appears to be sending out more flower nodes, at the base of the "leafed" cane and on two of the least shriveled of the 18" canes. The plant had 3 keikis, one of which was on the shakiest of the 18" canes.  But enough description.       Is it ever appropriate to cut canes from a dendrobium?  If so, when should one do it?       I would like to encourage some new growth from this plant, and I love the blooms, but I don’t want to do something stupid and set myself back by years in regard to either blooming or recovery to blooming size after pruning.  (The keikis have been removed and potted, on the advice of the grower where I bought the plant [Floradise Orchids in Gordonsville, VA.  An absolutely *fabulous* greenhouse!])       What say the sages of rec.gardens.orchids? Brian

Response:

      I have recently purchased a Den. Polka ‘Orange Tower’. The plant has 7 canes, one is 18" tall with leaves on the top 6-8", four of which are approximately 18" tall and completely leafless. There are two canes which are still green, but *very* shriveled, one of which is only 3" and the other 6" tall  (one of the leafless 18" canes is in this condition, too).  All stand without requiring staking.       The plant has flowered, and appears to be sending out more flower nodes, at the base of the "leafed" cane and on two of the least shriveled of the 18" canes. The plant had 3 keikis, one of which was on the shakiest of the 18" canes.  But enough description.       Is it ever appropriate to cut canes from a dendrobium?  If so, when should one do it?       I would like to encourage some new growth from this plant, and I love the blooms, but I don’t want to do something stupid and set myself back by years in regard to either blooming or recovery to blooming size after pruning.  (The keikis have been removed and potted, on the advice of the grower where I bought the plant [Floradise Orchids in Gordonsville, VA.  An absolutely *fabulous* greenhouse!])       What say the sages of rec.gardens.orchids? Brian

Response:

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