Might have been better to tack this on to the end of the previous thread. No matter. Just describe in detail where you are growing the orchid, temps, watering routine, where Zone 10a is etc etc and someone who can grow these may be able to assist.

Might not be a problem. I'm not familiar with this orchid myself, but it sounds like it's another deciduous dendrobium.

I found this article on google:
http://www.orchidweb.com/orchidofweek.aspx?id=889

Of particular note in the article:

Green Lantern will produce light green flowers with an orange colored lip from the sides of the canes. It is normal for this plant to get yellow leaves with black spots just before flowers start to emerge. This is a normal leaf shedding process the plant goes through.

Tyler

Tyler, these orchids have a bad habit.....of dying. Well every one i've tried to grow has died and it's not only me who has had this experience.

There is some trick or condition needed to make it survive and thrive. Hence my suggestion that the OP describe her growing conditions in some detail.

Sorry Arthur. I didn't mean to imply that she not post the information. I also hadn't seen the other thread.

Interesting that it's such a difficult one to grow. Do you know if Den cruentum shares this particular hard to grow easy to kill trait, or is it a product of the hybridization?

It might only be difficult here as is the gorgeous cuthbertsonii.

Here is some snippets from the exotic orchids of Asia by Teoh Eng Soon

"Section Nigrohirsute. Only two, D. creuntum and D. formosum are suitable for lowland cultivation."

"Dendrobium creuntum
This species is found on small trees in open forests in the lowlands of Peninsular Thailand and it flowers well in Singapore. In Bangkok it flowers continuously throughout the year. The pseudobulbs are slim, 30cm long with many leaves and one to three flowers are produced on a short inflorescence which appears from the upper half of the pseudobulb.,,,,,,the flowers last a month."

There have been some nice photos on the gallery of hybrids from time to time. It is just a matter of someone relating the conditions needed for success.

I suspect that green Lantern might need more even temperatures and humidity levels than i provide in my glasshouses and shadehouse.

Don't cut the 'bald' ones off, whatever you do :) Please do let us know your growing conditions - little can be said to help without that info. I'm glad to see people growing these awesome dendrobiums though for sure

If the leaves are sticky, something is likely wrong - wipe down/spray with the anti-pest treatment of your choice just to be sure. These dends like other dends are somewhat susceptible to a thrip-like disease, which I have yet to identify for sure. Small black pellets, white streaking and tiny black/brown crawling insects are tell tale signs.

I grow two cruentum primary hybrids and a few hybrids with 25-50% cruentum parentage, and I have an inkling that the hybrids are more robust than the species, although I'm not 100% sure. All the cruentums I've seen in real life look pretty ratty and nasty, but the primaries (green lantern, dawn maree, peng seng) and other hybrids (Lori's star, frosty dawn etc..) are much taller, fuller, with nice leaves and strong canes. But hey, who knows...I suspect some sort of pest infection combined with lack of light and musty potty material.

In terms of my conditions (which may or may not apply to you!), I grow my dawn maree (cruentum x formosum) in window that gets direct morning sun, it's potted in coconut husk and is essentially root bound. It gets watered within 1-2 days of being dry during the growing season (now) but gets less water in the winter.

Nearly killed my Lori's Star (Dawn Maree x Lori Tokunaga (cruentum x infundibulum) by A) watering too much when it didn't want water, and B) not watering it at all when it DID want water. As a result, it lost ALL it's leaves. Nearly chucked the thing, but saw three new growths this season, so it is now right next to Dawn Maree and is recovering (kind of). Just a note on repotting: If your plant has a new cane developing, it is risky to repot because you are disturbing all the new roots that are growing into your medium, even if the medium sucks. In my limited experience, I've found that the best time is to wait for the first emergence of a new growth, BEFORE roots come popping out. You will see a black furry nub at the base of the old canes. I waited too long for the aforementioned plant (ie roots were coming out already), and hence the 'kind of' recovery - the darn thing has been sulking. I predict the canes will be small and stunted this season, and I'll probably have to wait till next year for any sort of hope of blooms. If your new cane is smaller than the previous canes, your plant is likely not a happy camper. And if it has no new growth at all, then water VERY sparingly...(a mistake I made - I foolishly thought "Maybe more water will wake it up!"...learn from my failures!) It will wake up when it wants to and then you can do your thing. Oh yeah, and sphag is BAD for these guys fyi!!

Others -
Peng Seng (cruentum x tobaense) is under T5s, but gets similar watering and is happy. Frosty Dawn (Dawn Maree x Lime Frost (cruentum x scrabilingue) lives right next to it. Both potted in course coconut with charcoal and expanded clay pellets (quite airy)

Dend tobaense (close relative) is not too happy - leaves are looking like they want to drop. It is potted in a finer mix of bark with sphag on top (vendor's choice and I neglected to repot)...I spied a new growth coming along yesterday and will likely repot this weekend before the growth starts making new roots.

Hope that helps - these are awesome plants and I can't wait to get a green lantern. H&R orchids grow these fabulously and are responsible for most of the hybrids out there...they are visiting my OS this summer and I'll have to exercise some severe self control.

-calvin

Thanks Calvin, you are a big help!! I live in the San Francisco Mid-Peninsula, I have my "Green Lantern" by a window that gets a lot of indirect bright light, planted in medium bark, probably root bound, gets watered every couple of days but once a week in winter.It's sitting on a humid tray that I washed thoroughly a week ago. The new cane is smaller than the others, I have been cleaning the "sticky" leaves with a wet paper towel(w/liquid soap). But if there is an insect problem shouldn't I remove the infested canes?
Hope this will give you a better pic. of my situation.
ANNAMARIA

Do not remove any canes, they provide food and energy to the plant. If your newest growth is smaller, something is off in your culture, probably sunlight. I don't grow these, but try increasing the light, cut back on watering, and check for pests. If the leaves are sticky, you've got something.

Jane

Hi Annamaria

I noticed in your first thread that you mentioned pests, thinking it was spider mites but then saying you had found a brown spot on the stem. That sounds more like scale to me than spider mites, since the mites are almost microscopic. Scale would also explain the sticky substance on your leaves. If you look closely at the plant, can you see and more of these spots on the stem or undersides of the leaves?

Tyler

Hi Tyler, I actually noticed the spots on the yellow leaves and on one of the canes, but the cane with the growing flower stalk seems to be doing O.K. so far. I read on one of these threads that Windex might be O.K.?

Jane, as I said in my previous thread, pests is the problem, it was doing fine until the "sticky" leaves and brown spots discovery.

Do you have any of the brown spots still on the plant? If you do, gently try to scrape them off. If you can scrape them off, in my mind that's pretty much a confirmation that's it's scale. Scale are not the easiest pest to get rid of, and I have no idea if Windex will be up for the task.

There is really good info on scale in the Cacti & Succulents forum FAQ here on GardenWeb (including methods used to get rid of them) and you should be able to find plenty of pictures to compare to the ones on your plant by doing a Google search.

Tyler

Here is a link that might be useful: How do I rid my plants of scale and mealybugs?