What if it my Den Pierardii doesn't flower? - Orchid Board

gangof4 · #1 02-24-2018, 07:16 PM

So I received a Den Pierardii a week ago by mail with four canes that are eight inches or longerand have leaves. I have avoided watering it in the event it flowers and I understand it should have flowers in the next month, but what if it does not flower because of the shipping or something? At what point (month) should I realize it is not going to flower this season and then mount it and water it?

SaraJean · #2 02-24-2018, 07:30 PM

Oh I have such a soft spot for these. It was my very first orchid, which has now turned into a massive 3 foot long beast that completely surrounds a 4” basket, all from a little 2” pot

I’m not sure what your growing conditions are so I really can’t comment on whether to water it or not. I’ve started lightly misting mine but it already has buds set and it’s grown outdoors in roughly 60%-90% humidity. If you start lightly watering or misting it now, it won’t kill the orchid, if that’s what your worried about, I would just hold off on any fertilizer or heavy watering for now. Also I can’t say if it will bloom or not because I don’t know how old the plant is or what kind of care it received before it came to you.
However I would wait to mount it. When you start seeing some new growth at the base of the plant, that is the best time to mount or repot this particular dendrobium. These put out roots very shortly after you see the new growth (which seeing the start of roots are the real indicator of the best time to repot, fyi), usually when the new shoot is only a a couple of centimeters long.

gangof4 · #3 02-24-2018, 07:39 PM

This species was my first orchid too years ago, and like with people, one's "first love."

By "new shoot" do you mean new cane? Or new root?

I have a sun room in my house where I run a humidifier during the day. I live in North Texas where the outdoor temps have been around freezng lately so I have to run the heater a lot. But at night I close the sunrrom door to keep the sunroom about five degrees or so cooler than the house.

The plant doesn't look distressed, but awfully cramped in a small plastic cup and I'm just itching to mount it.

SaraJean · #4 02-24-2018, 07:44 PM

I reread that it’s only 8” long, sorry I missed that! It’s still a baby so your safe to lightly water it and you should see some new growth soon. With good care it should grow rapidly this spring and summer and with any luck you might be able to get a couple of blooms next year

---------- Post added at 06:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:40 PM ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by gangof4

This species was my first orchid too years ago, and like with people, one's "first love."

By "new shoot" do you mean new cane? Or new root?

I have a sun room in my house where I run a humidifier during the day. I live in North Texas where the outdoor temps have been around freezng lately so I have to run the heater a lot. But at night I close the sunrrom door to keep the sunroom about five degrees or so cooler than the house.

The plant doesn't look distressed, but awfully cramped in a small plastic cup and I'm just itching to mount it.

By new shoot I ment new cane. The roots develop almost at the same time it sends out the new cane for this particular species. Seriously though, if it’s been growing in the tiny cramped cup, it’s fine for now since it is basically dormant. Best not damage the roots yet with mounting untill after you know it is past the dormancy stage

gangof4 · #5 02-25-2018, 04:24 PM

I think the green on the leaves is a bit pale. But since I unboxed it just over a week ago, I just lightly spritzed it twice. Does it look healthy?

gangof4 · #6 02-25-2018, 04:26 PM

Same dendrobium pierardii. Your diagnosis?

SaraJean · #7 02-25-2018, 05:00 PM

That looks very healthy! That’s a really nice sized clump of pseudobulbs. All of those canes look nice and plump and the leaf color is good from what I can tell in the pics. This one get so much light mine are always a nice bright green in the spring and summer. Then once the winter cool down hits ( I let mine get night time temps into the low 40’s), I give mine even more light so they turn a pale yellow green before eventually dropping off. You still have plenty of leaves on yours which is fine, but if it doesn’t bloom for you this year it will definitely be blooming size this upcoming year with the proper care.

gangof4 · #8 02-25-2018, 05:04 PM

Thank you SaraJean. I feel like a proud parent (actually the only contribution I made personally was not to manage to kill it during the first week it came to live with me.)

SaraJean · #9 02-25-2018, 05:29 PM

No problem and as far as not killing it in a week- hey, it’s a start

I personally think these are super hardy and fairly easy to bloom as long as they get a cool down with lots of light. The first two years I had it, I gave it zero water in the winter (humidity remained high though) and it bloomed fine. The next year I spritzed it every week or so on warmish days with pure reverse osmosis water and it bloomed just as well but gave me lots of keikis along with the flowers. Good luck with it, it will get huge in no time

gangof4 · #10 02-25-2018, 05:50 PM

I hope it looks like yours (If I live long enough), lol.