I checked the local orchid society database and it flowers in spring here and would get a slight cooling down in our wimpy winter.
Looking at the image of your plant, I have serious doubts about its Id. Doesn't look like a Dendrochilum, but I could be wrong seeing that I have never attempted to grow one.

This does not look like my Dendrochilum glumaceum, which has short round pseudobulbs. This looks like a Dendrobium of some sort.

Maybe give it the cold dry rest that other Dendrobs need and see what results.
Good luck~
Maryanne

Hey, thanks Mary and Arthur..

You are both so right! I finally got a hold of the actual grower and sent him a pic besides while I was on the phone with him..It just so happens that the Orchid Vendor who sold me this plant bought it from him when he closed his business..Get this, they mislabeled it! I was treating it as the plant on the label which loves moisture!
He says it happens..But he knew what it was thank goodness...
It's a 'Dendrobium Speciosum'..lol
You guys are right. They REQUIRE abosolutely NO WATER starting December right until after they flower..
If any water touches the roots at all according to teh grower, that years bud formation you say goodby to.
It will just grow more green growth and get larger...No wonder it's huge and has yet to produce blooms

I took care of that plant as one would what I labled on the head of this thread,,They like water and moisture...

Let's see what happens now.

I stuck it in a very sunny window since it loves all day sun, well as much as I can give it up here, and very dry conditions all winter..I figure there I won't accidently water in in my greenhouse and it would do ok. I do get Oncidiums to bloom that way. The grower said sitting that plant right next to my jades would be perfect..
They don't need humidity to thrive.

Just goes to show you how something mislabeld can screw things up for any plant and that of the owner who cares and wants to do the right things. I guess if I ever buy a ondendrochilum, I'll know what to do with that one too.

How does that sound to you all?

MIke)

This post was edited by meyermike_1micha on Mon, Nov 3, 14 at 16:57

Well you wont be disappointed. Speciosums are spectacular when in flower. Orchidnick and Arthurm have posted nice photos of these in the gallery.

There is a little problem with the absolutely no water instruction. It rains here in winter!
As for growing and flowering it in zone 5. No idea! But it is temperature tolerant down to about 2C and gets sunny weather in winter.
Does it have a variety name along with the speciosum?

Thanks Lumpy and great to hear from you)

Arthur...Are you saying that this plant does get water in the winter and would probably appreciate a cool room with lots of sunlight through my measly winter?
In a south facing window, we get at most 8 hours of sunlight but it is the very best spot.

I wish someone could just give me exact directions on care for this plant....I only see beating around the bush ones and no one speaks of holding back water in winter except for the previous grower..

He was sure of the variety since it was not the label he would of had on it. He can't remember..He just told me to withhold water completely from December until it flowers, which kind of scares me a bit.

Mike

This plant has flowered at least once. I've read that takes 12 plus years. And that makes you orchid valuable. http://members.optusnet.com.au/elanbee/Den_speciosum_Len%20Field.pdf is one of many culture sheets. If you can get it to bloom you will be the talk of the neighborhood. They are spectacular. Good luck

Mike, your speciosum could well be speciosum x something else. You need some culture advice written for zone 5 USA or similar. Culture advice written for here or even parts of California is pretty useless.
So, it is a typical winter's day in Southern Eastern Australia.
The night has been clear and still, The sun rises and there are no clouds. The temp is in the 40's F, the prevailing westerly winter wind begins to blow and the humidity is low, about 30% the temp keeps rising and it gets to about 60F or a bit higher.
This is all very well but sometimes the wind comes in from a warm Pacific ocean and torrential rains fall.
300 sunny days a year fairly evenly distributed. 47 inches a rain here in Sydney very unevenly distributed.
Culture notes for the UK say easy to grow, difficult to flower, that is my rating for Zone 5 USA.
And, to be a complete killjoy. They are space-hogs. Here
is my plant prior to having the pot wrapped in black cloth with orchid Society Members for scale.
{{gwi:203926}}

This post was edited by arthurm on Tue, Nov 4, 14 at 13:03

Thanks Arthur for your comments on the weather. Is the rain evenly spread out over the year or is it seasonal. What kind of frequency for watering? We get in the mid 50's inches but it is seasonal. The dry season is beginning. We get rain in the dry season but far less frequent.

Mike here is a pic of my speciosum. I grow in zone 6 in a g/h and the temp never goes below 60. It sits in a spot that if there is sun, it gets it. I water when it gets dry which is very often in the summer and a little less in the winter. It is potted in LECA. The pot in the picture is a 10" pot and it currently is in a 14" pot.

{{gwi:203927}}

IMHO your g/h would be a better place for it because it would get all the light rather than having your walls shade it part of the time.

Brooke

Hey. thanks alot for the rub in your face posts..lol

Seriously, I hope I can get mine to look as nice with all your help...Now I am asking again...

Would you hold back water from December until it blooms?
As for the light, my sunny room uspstairs give more light than my greenhouse because it's exposed to sun all day as compared to my greenhouse surrounded by trees, a fence and a garage..I get about 3 hours of direct sunlight in there until the leaves fall off the trees...I can't get Oncidiums to bloom in there but I can in my room.

mike

Mike, is it still in that green container? Perhaps it's root-bound, or run out of room to support all that green foliage?

Josh

Mike

Which part of my post was a "rub in yur face post"?

I told you how I grow mine.

I told you my zone to compare to your zone.

I gave you my lowest temp in the winter.

I told you what type of light I gave mine.

I told you how I watered it in the winter - NO DRY REST as did Arthur.

I should not have told you where to grow it.

Brooke

Hey, Brooke! Given the "lol" at the end of Mike's sentence, I'm pretty sure he was referring to the beautiful blooms that you posted....since he hasn't gotten his orchid to bloom yet. His following sentence also proffers a compliment, so I really don't think he was upset. Just a fairly common expression.

Had to jump in since your post seemed somewhat tense in response.

Josh

Sorry Josh not tense, flabbergasted.

I wrote a short concise description of how I grow my plant, provided picture so he could see I did have one. He then asks again on should he withhold water from Dec. 'til bloom.

I should not have told him where to grow the plant since he knows what his conditions in a window vs his greenhouse would be.

Brooke

Hello Brooke....It is as exactly what Josh explained...I am so sorry if I sounded anything but kind.

I was mostly responding that way to Arthurs comment about ;;;'joykill'. , showing his off..
I was going to continue writing but them we closed shop sudenely and could not further my post. I apologize for not having the time to say how beautiful both yours and Arthurs are. It's a mircale that you could do such a great job.
Brooke, when you say you said that you water less in the winter, what exactly do you mean? Once a month or every other week?

Do you get full sun all day on your greenhouse unobstructed?
I tried blooming my Oncidiums which require lots of sun and they didn't get enough in the greenhouse from fall to spring for years...But for once I stuck them in my sunny south facing window upstairs and they all bloomed..I think I am egtting more sunlight up there, but then I get more in my greenhouse once June to August comes around.

I really appreciate what you had to offer. It seems you took the bite out of that guy whom use to own it saying that I am not to water it at all...He even told me that 100's did not bloom all because a worker accidently watered them once in winter...

Thanks again for understanding and please don't take anything personal...I really appreciate the time you come here to care enough to help)

Josh, thanks for that.It's good to see you. Yes, the plant is till in that green pot bt it has been growing humuguis depsite. I am afraid to repot it until I see new developement after the flower show...)

MIke

This post was edited by meyermike_1micha on Wed, Nov 5, 14 at 14:29

Mike, This bone dry stuff is the cause of much grief. I remember when I started off, a beautiful nobile Hybrid met its end when i tried growing it in a glasshouse following the no winter moisture instruction after date X.

Here are the long term stats from a nearby AWS. Sorry about the metric. May to August = "winter" here

May June July August
Temp Max 20.0c 17.6c 17.0c 18.4c .
Temp Min 10.9c 8.7c 7.2c 8.1c

Rain mm 98.7 122.8 69.9 77.0

Daily
Hours
Sunshine 6.3 5.9 6.6 7.9

Clear
Days 9.3 9.1 12.0 13.2

Sorry, i spaced the above out and it ended all scrunched up.

There are some smaller varieties of Speciosum available but my Speciosum + something guess comes from the form of your plant.

So Arthur, thank you very much..

Basically your plants do get moisture even in winter and are not bone dry and still bloom...I am going to go along with you and say more sunlight is what would probably do it for mine..I have not been giving enough sunlight. I have been treating more like a Cattalaya and shade because it was mislabeled..I never gave it full sun.

If I am off track, please let me know..I really appreciate your help)

MIke

Mike, it needs a bit more light than a Cattleya, But having said that I've got no idea what sunlight is like in the middle of winter in Zone 5 Michigan. All I can tell you is my speciosums are outside all year near the eastern side of the Tahitian Lime tree so they do not get burnt by the hot afternoon sun. Lol. read your my-page details.
Good Luck and hope it flowers next spring.

If you can find someone that has successfully bloomed speciosum in zone 5 globe then you have found the best advice for you. The same orchid needs different culture depending on the latitude it is growing.

The best you can do with Arthurs excellent advice is make some adjustments to what he said. Exactly what would be adjusted is best answered by a successful grower in zone 5 globe.

If you can bloom it you will be the talk of the neighborhood! Go bloom it! Good luck.

Authur, it must be lovely living there..I wish I could visit your area sometime..You must have some very beautiful plants besides this plant)

Thank you for all the info. You are right about the light issue. I don't think I have enough for just about anything this time of the year.If I don't get blooms this year, next year I am going to find a spot that gets sunlight all day and start with spring. Then I will leave it outside in that spot until a possible frost. I am thinking that cooler nights helps too.

If I can't get enough light without the use of artificial lights, then I will have to just give them away(

Shavedmonkey, thanks a bunch for your encouragement. I really appreciate that.

MIke

This post was edited by meyermike_1micha on Sun, Nov 9, 14 at 18:40