I'm experiencing anomalies indoors too.
CTSMS are the first group I noticed.
Off schedule
No choice but to go with it.
Its like a good book; I want to know how the CTSM story will end!
I can short run the lights, dry them up, starve them, put them in a closet -new growth is popping up.

IMO Global Dimming is more the reality than Global Warming.
G.D. is a relatively new concept . Biologists and Agi's are finding Dimming has a major impact on the plant world.
MegA

Here is a link that might be useful: NOVA Global Dimming

It doesn't sound too unusual. Dendrobium tetragonum var giganteum is a summer/autumn flowering variety so its hybrids often flower twice a year especially when they're growing well. The lack of red colour during summer is also pretty common. With some clones to colour change can be so great that you wouldn't pick the first and second flush of flowers as coming from the same plant.

I have heard about that, the only thing that's remarkable to me is that I've had these plants since 1996 and this is the first time they have behaved like that. Avrill's Gold is also reputed to be a slow grower, maybe the plant is finally coming into its own and willl bloom like that from now on. It made 4 new canes this spring, in the past it has done only one or two per year. If the 9 buds bloom at the same time it should be a beautiful Xmas decoration especially if the red is present which it should be as its getting chilly.

Hilda Poxon is a much larger plant (more canes that is) as it usually added more canes per year than Avrill and it has been somewhat all over the place with its blooming habits, this year was more pronounced than in the past.

Have they been blooming since 1996? Have you divided them during that time? You're probably already aware that speciosum does tend to pass on it's slow maturation to it's offspring and Avril's Gold and Hilda Poxon both lean more towards speciosum's maturation time than, say, delicatum. Avril's Gold and Hilda Poxon also tend to share speciosum's dislike for overdividing. With regard to Avril's Gold being a slow grower, I have been told that Aussie Child "Avril" was not a particularly strong plant to start with so I guess you're relying on the speciosum parent to impart vigour.

I started growing and and collecting orchids in 1996 and right from the get go developed an interest in D speciosum. Bought 3 'speciosums' that year. 2 just labeled D speciosum the other labeled D speciosum 'Andrew Perrson'. The seller was as ignorant as the buyer.

They all bloomed in the first year but all acted differently. Someone correctly identified Andrew Perrson for what it is and it has become a gigantic plant with about 30 flower stalks last year. Very fragrant, one of my favorites. One of the other two D speciosums has since been tagged as D spec grandiflorum x pedunculatum. The canes are 3 feet long (including leaves) but have sharp edges hence the pedundulatum suggestion. Its my largest orchid, I have it mounted, it now has 38 canes and puts on a nice display every spring. A couple of times it has taken 'Best Dendrobium of Show', people are just blown away by the sheer size of it and several times it managed to make it to a show in full bloom. I have taken some of the small back canes of both and made new plants without difficulty. I can hardly lift that sucker anymore. That was my first real D speciosum, I now have about 30 others, the 6 types, many hybrids and a few awarded ones, 'Windermere', 'Daylight Moon', 'Charlie', 'Robyn' and 'Southern Cross'. One guy in my Orchid Society has an appreciation of these things, other than that I'm on my own. Those buggers sure take up a lot of growing space!

The other 'D speciosum' I got back in 1996 acted totally different blooming out of phase and all that red in the flower. David Banks gave a talk to our Society and identified it as an award quality (Au standards) 'Avrill's Gold' nothing further. He also warned me about dividing it saying they don't like it. I have since taken some of the old, small canes from the back, I don't think the plant missed them, but they all died, I did not get a single new plant from them. It has enlarged at a much slower rate, as I said earlier this is the first year it managed 4 new canes. Everyone who sees it wants a piece but I have resisted any offers of substantial trades for a "piece" of it, also turned down mucho dinero. ($). One does not see these things around here, the person who sold it to me is long gone and I often wondered how it got on a table labeled D speciosum with a relatively low price. There is a guy in Santa Barbara, Don Brown, who has some but I have never seen one either displayed or for sale.

That's the story of my 'Avrill's Gold'.

'Hilda Poxon' came to me correctly labeled and has not advanced as fast as Andrew Perrson but much faster than A Gold. I have 2, one with a good quality open, large flower, the other with a pinched, crossed appearance. I need to give that one away, no reason to keep it. I have a few other A Gold seedlings but they are still small.

Thanks for the interest and the info,

Nick

Wow! I enjoyed reading about your Dens... they sound very beautiful! Do you have photos? I'm always blown away by the sheer size of some orchids! When I visited Oak Hill in September, they had several enormous Dendrobiums in their greenhouses, big enough to be called trees! The canes were as thick as my arms, and taller than my husband, who tops 6'!

Being a novice, this is always so interesting to me! Thanks for sharing!

Sorry, no digital pictures. Have plenty of 'Real Photos' but I'm dating myself.

That gigantic Dendrobium sounds awesome. I did not think they got that big. Are you sure it was not a Grammatophyllum speciosum?

Nick

as your plants mature they will change
I had a Den that used to bloom in the spring with 1 or 2 spikes, then the spring and the fall, then 3 times a year
now its never out of bloom and sends up 10 - 12 spikes each time, so maturity of the plant has something to do with it.

Its now Jan, cold and the plants are blooming their heads off. Avril's Gold has 13 flower spikes some of which are open and show the tons of red as expected. Hilda Poxon has 25 flower spikes and also shows plenty of red.

Both plants then acted exactly as in previous years except that this summer, as they bloomed in June or so, the flowers totally lacked any trace of red what so ever. That was the unusual aspect that made me post this thread as in the 10 years plus that I've grown these plants, I never noticed that before. I still think it has to do with climate rather than plants maturing or changing.

Nick

I'll add my 2 cents.....

For starters, as a geologist, I'm going to stay away from the terms "climate change" and "Global Warming" as I feel they are overused by politicians and marketers as way to monger fear, boost votes or sales.

If you are absolutly sure that your plant's genetics or quirks are absolutly not to blame for their change of behavior, then perhaps you might take a look at your local weather.

Weather patterns change as a natural part of the Earth's cycle (To be clear, I am not talking about a climatic change, just the normal drought/wet cycle). For the past 10 years, my home in Wisconsin has suffered from a slight drought as indicated by the lack of feet and feet of snow we used to get. However, this winter we've been getting much more snow that is typical of this area. So perhaps your area is going through a cycle, and whether its getting drier or wetter may affect your orchids somehow.

Totally agree with the above. We had an unusually hot spring devoid of the typical 'June Gloom' that plagues SOCAL. I am also slow to talk about global changes, Al Gore makes a good movie but the glaciers started receding a long time ago. Man is a pesky species but puny in the over all scheme of things. Unless all of Siberia turns into another lake of lave as it did once before, the globe will be fine no matter what we do. If we over breed to a population of 20 or 30 billion, that's no problem either as some natural disaster will wipe us out and set things straight.

Nick

I have to chuckle when I hear people talking about global warming, ice ages, and "saving the planet"... it was here long before man arrived on the scene, and it'll still be here long after man fades from the picture. Our legacy will be plastics and other non-biodegradable petroleum products!

The only thing that bothers me about the changing microcosms of climate are the late winter warm ups that trick some plants into budding... only to be struck with early spring freezes again.

Archeologists 100,000,000 years from now will dig through the remnants of our time period and notice a massive die-off involving 80% to 90% of the species of the day. They will then search for the impact crater of a massive extra terrestrial object or signs of a super volcano eruption. We of course are the problem! A whole new generation of living things will of course have evolved and our passing will only be a dim memory.

Keep recycling! You can save the planet. I recycle by making sure none of my trash is sent into outer space. As long as it stays here it's recycled automatically.

Nick