I thought maybe it was time to dropkick my little keiki factory off the back porch. Actually I need more light, cool and no water I can handle.

Shaun

Two of my Dens are now in bloom. One of these has a keiki with a small spike. Two more are spiking and one isn't doing anything.

Dendrobium kingianum blooms in spring and it needs similar culture to nobile type Dendrobiums.
That is cooler winter temperatures, reduced watering, high light, and no fertilizer from say mid autumn.
The best thing to do is if you are in Northern Climates is to obtain a copy of Wilford Neptune's culture notes and follow them exactly.

That said, there are some puzzles as to the keys to making the plant flower.
In June when the plant was supposed to be getting its dry winter rest in the shadehouse, there was a deluge. 39Cm in a month. July was a bit more normal 3.6Cm while August was wet again 11Cm.

Forget all this tropical stuff. The coldest night ever in July 1C in this backyard did not bother the kingianums one little bit. Stop laughing, 1C is really, really cold.

I take one layer of 50% shadecloth off the shadehouse in winter to give extra light.

I suspect that this orchid might be rated easy in parts of California.

OK? So what am I seeing on my plant?

For anyone interested, this month's issue of Orchids has one of my articles, and in it is the culture I use for kingianums; and there is a gallery of 15 kingianum clones to give you an idea as to some of the different color forms available in this super orchid.

You are seeing mature growths where the flowering spikes might come from provided you can give it the conditions it needs during winter. Plant flowers in spring here and the flowers are just opening now.

Note that the plant will reflower from older pseudobulbs. Best to make sure that you have a plant that has flowered in the past because there are some clones that are shy flowering and some clones in the wild that never flower. They just spread by making new growths and keikis.

It is hard to grow plants that you have to cool down. For example, i wouldn't bother with Odontoglossom because i would have to somehow keep them cool over summer. Winter, with the high light requirement and the plant to be kept within its coolness limit sounds hard to me. Average maximum about 17C. But if you can get something that is rated difficult to flower, it is always a bit of a triumph.

Of course, I do not really know what i'm talking about because i've never done USA touristy stuff in a Northern Winter.

I think I messed up with my Den. kingianum this year. All I got were 2-3 keikis on top of each pseudobulb.

Some clones make a lot of keikis even with good culture OR perhaps there were no live growth eyes at the base of the pseudobulbs.
Fingers crossed, you might get flowers from the keikis.

Thank goodness I read the whole thread, I was getting bewildered at the thought that it might flower in autumn.

Mine never have.......lol

Thank god for ArthurM

OK, so what I'm seeing on my plant is the potential for a spike this spring. Since my plant has never produced anything like this before I guess that's a good sign.

I am curious about greehouser's statement: "Two of my Dens are now in bloom. One of these has a keiki with a small spike. Two more are spiking and one isn't doing anything."

Are these plants not kingianum?

K

Excellent article Wilford...You're the undisputed US King of the kingianums...

I'm not sure what they are, just that they're dens.

Greenhouser, I have a Dend in bud now too. It's never happened this early. The plant is a mini - about 3 or 4 inches tall, but a NOID. I assumed it was probably a kingianum, but I've been wrong before. Sherlene

I'm wondering if my own D. kingianum is a non-flowering clone. I had one many years ago in Seattle; I kept it in a cooler room of the house near a window and it got cool temps in winter there, it bloomed nicely for me. I have one now that has been growing nicely for 3-4 years, I fertilize with a low-nitrogen fertilizer, give it bright morning light (outside) during the summer, a dry cool rest in the winter, but so far not a sign of flowering. Also - how dry a rest? I withold water during the winter but if the leaves look too parched I give just a bit. Should I?

Glad this post popped up again. Mine is doing the same thing. Small sheaths? produced in August, been dry brown all winter. No sign of anything yet. Mine is bare rooted and no water but it still looks okay.

Wish something would happen - this is torture.

Jane

Jane, torture for the plant too. Bare rooted? Haven't read Wilford's article, but i'd be surprised if he is growing the orchid bare rooted.

This is not an orchid that comes from a Monsoonal Climate. The Climate has higher rainfall in late summer/early autumn and the lowest rainfall occurs late winter/spring, but this is just on average and heavy rainfall can occur any time of the year.

Perhaps East Coast erratic is the best description.

Anyway, follow Wilford's notes if you live in Climates with severe winters.

For what it is worth, mine are grown underpotted in a bark/pebble mix and get an average of six hours sunlight filtered by two layers of 50% shadecloth in summer, one layer of 50% shadecloth in winter.
Average Temperature ranges Winter 7-17C Summer 17-27C
Extreme annual range 1- 44C
Rainfall About 40 inches
No fertilizer and no watering apart from natural rainfall in winter. Though i might give the plants a meagre squirt of water if there are weeks and weeks of no rainfall and the arid westerly winds are blowing.

My plant is currently in spike... I wish I had taken pictures of the spikes developing on my plants as that would help you decide whether they will grow into spikes or into new keikis. I have mine growing in a basket, hanging on the north side of the house where it receives morning sun and late afternoon sun, and watered whenever I remember, which is probably every few days. I don't remember ever feeding it. Hope this helps. Barbara

I probably shouldn't even speak yet, but today I noticed a cone shaped, brown bump where one of those dried up, sheath type things used to be. Something is happening, but I don't want to claim spike quite yet. I have a feeling though......

Anyway, last fall I decided to follow Wilford's advice as best I could. That included only a few mistings through the winter and temps in the mid to upper 40's each night. I finally gave my plant a good drink about a week ago and now I find the brown bump. Fingers are crossed. Mine is potted in lava rock.

K

Arthur, all year I was going to ask your opinion about this plant because I'm not really sure what it is. I received it as a 'gift' from a speaker at our OS last year. The label says:
Down Under Native Orchids - Phena & Brian Gerhard

The plant name is - D. Class 'Pretty' x D. Rays Dream 'Burgundy Beauty'

I have treated it as a Kingianum, because that's what it looks like. Its small in a 2" pot with a piece of tree fern. The little pot is all roots. I looked closely tonight and notice new green roots coming off the last growth. Made a bunch of growths over summer and is packed in this pot.

Have you heard of the name?

Jane
(PS: arrived late at the meeting and the speaker was leaving - he handed me this plant which he was using as a demo. I missed the entire meeting, but got a free plant...

Jane, you have a "Hot/Cold" Australian Native Hybrid with lots of different Dendrobium ancestors. Have no idea how to grow something like that indoors in New York.
The strongest influence comes from Dendrobium tetragonum which is more of a rain forest orchid than Den. kingianum.
Other ancestors are Dendrobium speciosum, kingianum, bigibbum, falcorostrum, fleckeri and perhaps a few more that i missed in a quick backtrack.
The hybridists found that the problem in using Dendobium kingianum in breeding was that the shape and size of the flower was pretty persistant so they turned to other parents to use in their breeding programs.

The registered name of your orchid is Dendrobium Nathan and i couldn't find a picture but with luck it might look something like this.

{{gwi:168941}}

So, I guess the bottom line is I've been doing everything wrong?? Suppose I should be 'freezing' this sucker. Looks like a kingianum.

Strange, because he was there selling his plants. Of course, most of the members are greenhouse growers. I should have grabbed him in the parking lot...

Thanks Arthur,

Jane

Hard to say, I just grow these sorts of orchids in my shadehouse along with Autumn flowering Cattleyas and water them more than say kingianum. There are some cold tolerant ancestors there but note that bigibbum is a warm growing orchid as is the variety of tetragonum usually used in hybridisation programs.