Follow the link for a nice photo and some info on culture.

Here is a link that might be useful: Photo

I have had this orchid for years and is one of my favorite spring blooming Den's. The plant will get many canes but they do not really get that tall, maybe 6-10" each. I have mine in pot with one clay pot clip hanger so it will hang at an angle. The flower spike will be pendent type maybe 4-6" long with around 6 flowers per spike. I have never noticed a scent on mine, but that just may be me. They do grow fast mine is maybe 4 years old with dozens of canes and so many flowers that is a mass of yellow. Take the link from the above post for care it is a soft cane Den that needs the winter rest. I do not water mine until the spike as flowers that are ready to open or at least until the flower buds are well developed.

PS they will rebloom from old bare canes so do not cut them.

Thanks so much. I've already watered it once - figured since it was growing... But one time probably won't kill it.

Sounds very manageable regarding both height and spike habit and length! Mmm, pendant spikes from the tops of staked canes. That's got to be lovely. Can't wait!

John

I love Gold Aya- such a cool plant! Lost mine to mites years ago- I think I will replace it. Thanks for enabling John!

Well judging from the very differing cultural practices people use for it, it must be very agreeable. Here's what one grower in Aruba reports:

"FWIW, here's how I grow and bloom my Golden Aya.
Year round high temps (90's during the day, lower 80's at night, I live in the southern Caribbean), daily watering and monthly fert. After the new growths have matured I start tapering off water over the next couple weeks until the leaves start yellowing and fall off. Usually the spikes start emerging around that time, which can be twice a year."

Once my Golden Aya gets spikes, I resume watering. I give it what I call "baby sips". That is, I water it but I don't drench it. I water this way a couple of times a week as I've noticed over the past five years that I've had it that the buds need some water or they blast. Once blooming is over I resume regular watering.

Tab64 gave a perfect description of the plant. Mine is pendulous also. Last year I had eleven spikes, this year I have nine, and the plant is a mass of gold. I cut my plant in half a couple of years ago but it has grown so much you would never know it.

I'm dumb about dendrobiums, except I know that they like small pots and like to dry out between waterings.

So would you please explain the purpose of baby sips? If you're going to water it, why not go ahead and water it? Is it because the roots tend to rot if you start drenching it too early (even if you let it get dry between)?

Thanks!

John

Great question John. I think the idea behind baby sips is not to over wet the media or roots. Goes against all 'dirt' gardening advice, but works with dens. You just give enough so the roots dry quickly. You don't want it drinking too much as it could spur growth. You just want to keep it alive - you want it to concentrate on budding, not growing.

I think I have to get this Den...

Jane

I am glad it was brought up about "baby sips". When I say I do not water until I see the flowers, I am forgetting that mine are outside hanging on an arbor and get water from our winter rains. It is our dry season so it rains once every week in February but in January maybe never. So when it spikes in Feb. we are getting "baby sips" from above. This is also the case for my Ctsm/Cyc. So in reality they do not get "no water" but very little so the roots get enough moisture with a long enough dryness to keep it happy.

Sounds like an orchid after my own heart. Loves neglect, not fussy about much of anything and covers itself with color at least once a year.

Thanks for the *very helpful* responses!!

John :>)

This is the one I used to have before we moved. The plant did get rather large and pretty pendant, plus the longer spikes hung down quite a bit (needed plenty of head room in the GH during blooming).

The best part is the intense raspberry scent of the flowers!

I got a smaller replacement for this guy after the new GH was built, and both plants seem to be prone to developing some black stuff on the canes (fungus?). They're also quite sensitive to rot if given too much water during winter months, so I, too, just give the roots baby sips maybe every 2nd or 3rd week during the winter, just enough to keep the new roots from shriveling (though why it produces new roots without active growth is beyond me).

Sharon

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Spectacular, Sharon. Hoped you'd chime in - I ran across a photo of yours from a Google search. Hopefully upright culture by staking will also work long term. Could the black stuff be powdery mildew?

SO excited about the raspberry scent!! I'll bet Jane is a total goner on this plant now!

John

THAT PHOTO CINCHES IT!!!!

Okay John, where'd you get it?

Jane

hi jane. I'll email you.

John

Jane, I got mine from Parkside Orchids in Ottsville, Pa.

I just went to EBay and searched for Golden Aya. Looks like he (she) has more than one. Ships from Texas. No heat pack in it - you could request one. The plant was cool when I unwrapped it but completely undamaged. It was a frigid day too. Didn't skip a beat

J

Hi, I'm new to the post and sort of new to orchids too. I got my D. golden aya about 4 yrs. ago in NYC at an orchid show and it had pretty golden flowers and a light scent (I bought it for the scent). Ever since it has grown shoots like crazy but never again flowered. I water it weekly with orchid fertilizer and it is in a semi-sunny window in NJ facing south. (The house gets very little sun.) I repotted twice in orchid mix to keep up with the growth, but I am dying to get it to flower again. Could anyone give me advice on this? Thank-you:) (I also have a D. Red Emperor ("Prince") from the same show and the same story, it grows well and lots of rootlets, but never flowers anymore (they were red and purple but no scent). The Golden aya was from the grower Quest in Miami and must be very hardy since it is growing well despite my inexperience. Thanks for any help.

"I water it weekly with orchid fertilizer"
What kind of fertilizer? Dens don't like a lot of nitrogen. I use Dyna-Gro Bloom year round and cut back after August and don't resume until after blooming is over.

"I repotted twice in orchid mix to keep up with the growth"
Dens dislike having they're roots disturbed. They bloom much better with extremely tight shoes--with the roots coming out over the top and through the drainage holes. If you must, just pot them up into a larger pot without disturbing the roots. Don't worry about deteriorating media in the root ball. I think they devour it, because there is never much left when I go to repot, the roots are such a mass.

The south window light is good. I grow mine in a chilly west window in the fall and winter, and outside in the spring and summer with as much sun as it will take. It stays out until the night temps drop considerably.

The Golden Aya gets a complete dry rest from Thanksgiving until Christmas, then it gets baby sips of water until the spikes emerge. When the spikes get larger the plant gets a bit more water.

Thank you for your response and advice. The fertilizer I use is Schultz "Orchid Food" with 19N:31P:17K. This is why I am dissapointed that there are no flowers, because the Phosphate is higher so this is supposed to promote flowering, but I guess I'm doing other things wrong so my plant is not happy. I will certainly get a new fertilizer with less nitrogen. I just went to the Orchid show at the New York Botanical Garden (really amazing) and picked up a book called "Orchid Growing for Wimps" and read it cover to cover and it also said keep Dendrobium roots crowded, don't disturb the roots too much, and give it a rest period. I will try the baby sips method too, which is very different from what I've been doing so hopefully it'll work. Thanks again for the help. Wishing you lots of great flowers. :)

Although Den. Golden Aya is not a nobile type, fertilizer at the wrong time of year will not help it bloom. Your other orchid is a nobile type and fertilizer and too much water at the wrong time of year will just promote leaf growth.

Suggest you read all the posts in this thread and do a search in the search box at the top of the discussions page to find past posts. Put nobile in the box to find them.

Culture will vary a bit but the common theme of reduced watering, lower temperatures and nil fertilizer during "winter" will emerge.