Dendrobium continues to decline

[beefy]

when i got my dendrobium back in the winter it had gorgeous blooms all over it and not even two days later it started aborting them all. then it started losing leaves. its only got leaves on two of about 6 canes at this point. it had started putting out two new canes so i thought it was doing better. then one of the new canes died so i know its in trouble. i decided to move it outside out under the magnolia tree so it could get fresh air, free range humidity, and filtered light, and some heat. its ~85 here during the days and 60s at night. well it looked good for a few days, now its losing more leaves on the adult canes. the little one looked like it was turning yellowish at one point and now it looks like it may live. its in volcano cinders or whatever and it dries out pretty fast. i dont water it much though. do you think i need to give it more water or less water, should i put it in some bark, or what. is the enironment change to blame for the loss of leaves? what to do, what to do?

 

[patandchickens]

First, there are deciduous Dendrobiums and, uh, ones that don't. If yours is the kind that normally loses leaves after blooming, then it is quite possibly just doing its thing.

OTOH, this was an inexpensive plant from like home depot or something? Another very possible scenario is that it led a sheltered, constant-humidity predictable-temperature ideal-environment life in a big commercial greenhouse somewhere til it was rudely picked up, shoved on a truck and deposited at the store. Where it was probably exposed to low humidity, erratic watering if any, and heaven knows what light regime. And then taken to your place - even more sudden change. It may have been damaged from excessive drought, excessive water at the roots, or excessive sunlight at some time in the process. In which case there would not be a lot you can do other than give good 'supportive care' and see if it comes back.

I don't honestly remember about potting dendrobiums. I am pretty sure they are one of the ones that really needs its roots to dry out between waterings, is all I can recall.

Orchids are not necessarily difficult per se but have a lot of idiosyncrasies that require catering to. Nothing against us here but it would be worth finding a good orchid forum to tap into.

Best of luck,

Pat

 

[doc_gonzo]

beefy,

if you could post a pic of the dendro in question, i think that i could be a bit more help. pat mentioned deciduous and non- deciduous dendro's. japanese "yamamoto" dendros are non-deciduous, they tend to throw spikes directly from the internodes of the pseudobulbs in tight clusters. the deciduous dendros also known as "cane dendros" throw thier blooms from an inflorescents that originates from the top few leaves (a long spike that has much more spread out buds, not so cluster-like.). dawn is threating to sport out some pics, so stay tuned.....

cheers,

doc

Deciduous Dendro (long spike, spread out blooms)...

Yamamoto (non-deciduous, tightly clustered blooms)

 

[beefy]

mine looks like your deciduous one. mine had a lot of leaves all up and down the cane when i got it on about 5 or 6 canes. now only two canes have leaves and one cane only has one leaf left. the other has a few yellowing leaves but the ones on the tips look ok. I wasnt really worried until one of the new canes that it recently shot out turned yellow and withered away. the remaining new growth cane looks ok. i'm not sure why the other one died, too wet, too dry, wrong light who knows?