You definitely have a dendrobium. But which kind is critical.

Someone correct me if you disagree, but does this look like a nobile dendrobium?? The tapering of the cane strikes me as distinctly nobile and the leaves look too strappy for phal types. But the less than delicate look is throwing me off. Usually nobiles look more delicate to me.

If this is the case, blooming will take a little bit of work, depending on the breeding.

Blooming a nobile type demdrobium requires something of a winter rest. Meaning day/ night temps between 45-60, and withhold water. Not the easiest for windowsill growers to bloom.

That being said, there are some widespread nobiles (called Yamamoto types after te nursery that bred then; also known as warm growing nobiles) that don't require a rest.

Determining which one you have is basically impossible unless you have a tag with the plant or play with the cultures ear a few years.

Can you explain more about your light? Is it all indirect light? Any direct sunlight?

This post was edited by terpguy on Mon, Nov 25, 13 at 21:03

Most of the light is indirect about 3 feet from a window that gets afternoon sunlight. Should I water it less than once a week?? I do believe it is a noble dendrobium, and it is still in a 4" pot. It has grown but not flowered

Saturn

You might be able to find some Culture notes on the net written by the late Wilford Neptune. He was a master at growing these as well as Dendrobium kingianum.

Sorry, I composed a much longer reply but for some reason it doesn't get accepted. You have a nobile/softcane type of Dendrobium.

Plant looks in good shape, might flower in a year or two.....

Having another try.

The problem is copying the cooling off in the pretend winter here that makes these orchids beginners plants.

Growing them in zone 6 and getting them through winter with temps that cause the buds to initiate is difficult.

Temperature tolerant to just above freezing. Not sure of the degree of cooling required for the so called Yamamoto Types that maybe are just a bit easier to grow.

Average Temperatures here; Winter 7C min to 17C max
Average Temperatures here; Summer 17C to 27C

I do not believe in the bone dry in winter theory. Drier is the go!

Grown outside in a shade-house or on a tree such as citrus.

Average Annual Rainfall 47inches. Erratic Climate

300 sunny days per year

Driest period of year on average, Late winter/spring but heavy rainfall can occur any time.

Lowest Humidity, Late Winter/Spring.

Most bloom off the pseudobulb/cane that matured the previous year but some of the Yamamoto types bloom on the newest cane.

Den. Gladeview Sunset
{{gwi:204130}}

This post was edited by arthurm on Tue, Nov 26, 13 at 2:57

Should I water less than once a week??? And how about transplanting? It is in a 4" pot now when will I know when it needs to be transplanted if not now?

This is the difficulty. Drastically different growing conditions.
What is easy here is difficult there (& vice versa).
Anyway, just keep on doing as per previous and do not even think about fiddling with it till well into spring.

The ancestors came from monsoonal forests where the plant grows actively in the rainy season (summer) Matures the growth in Autumn, doesn't do anything till late winter when the flower buds start to grow from nodes on a pseudobulb.

Peak flowering should be April there. Repot and divide if needed late spring/early summer.

I only have two plants because they are not my first love.
But I remember killing one by watering too much at the wrong time of year when i first started growing orchids about 40 years ago.

Forget about the bone dry. In the climate where it grows on still clear nights a little bit of dew forms. The temperature dip is probably more important than dryness.

This post was edited by arthurm on Tue, Nov 26, 13 at 11:44

Right. What Arthur said. Just as an addendum, infrequent watering will come necessarily with cooler temps. Yes, it'll be much less than once a week.

What I would recommend to start is just up your light. This guy wants a lot of light. 5ish hours of direct morning or evening sun durig the summer. Directly in front of a south window during the winter. 3' away from a window is too far. If you have a warmer Yamamoto type (entirely possible here in the US) then it should bloom for you without any rest.

Give this treatment a year or two because it's most likely too late already to expect much for this coming year. If you don't get blooms in that time, you have a standard nobile that requires a cool winter rest.

Just a heads up, I have a mobile but it's got a flower bud maturing now. I left all of my orchids outside until mid October, they got nights into the 40's. I'm assuming that's why my mobile is blooming now. It had set the bud while outside, it's likely just reacting to the temperature change. That may be what you have to do. Mines not very big and I just bought it in the summer.

Hi,
I am no expert but i do have a couple of den nobiles that i manage to flower every winter. You do need to follow a few rules but when you do, they usually reciprocate.

From spring to summer i fertilise every other week and water well. They get the spots closest to the window and quite a lot of direct sunlight. These guys love sunlight. You should see one or more new canes growing out. In late spring, early summer, they go outside and dont come back in until just before the first frost. By beginning of August, i stop fertlising and just continue with the watering. This year, mine came back in first week of november. Little "eyes" have formed on the sides of the canes (both old and new ones). One has already flowered. In winter, i just space the watering a little more.
They like being underpotted so yours are fine where they are. I remember reading once somewhere that each pot should have least 6 canes before you consider dividing.
In my collection, my den nobiles are the toughest chids! But they do need exposure to lots of sunlight and a period of cold to initiate the buds. I think you can do an internet search for yamamoto dens and there should be a pretty good culture sheet.
Hope this helps!

Raistlyn, do you have names for your nobiles?

Ashes, good news: your Den. Comet King is a Yamamoto bred warm(ish) grower. No real need for the rest for you :). The cool temps should saturate the colors though! Both mine (Sea Mary 'Snow King' and a miniature unnamed grex, parents I forget ATM except one is Pocket Love) see those temps but have bloomed great absent cool down.

How do you know when to transplant?? Mine is in a 4" pot with three canes growing see above (top of thread pic)

Lol. I don't mind doing the rest thing. I have a hard cane plus the nigrohirsute and 2 callistas, plus a chysis. It's easy once you get the routine down. I'm very excited to see this flower! Thank you for the knowledge terpguy!

Saturn the time to repot is when new growth is coming dip from the base and new roots are growing. Usually in the spring.

Very nice, ashes!

Sun, sun, sun!

Jane

Some good advice in the threads above. The low in my shade-house over the whole of winter might have been about 2C. Must be tricky in higher latitudes leaving soft-canes outside when there is the danger of frost and as Jane says sun, sun, sun, an excess of that here even in winter so shade-cloth is necessary.

As for the Yamamoto stuff. I suppose many pictured in the link were produced by that famous family, but some of those hybrids were registered ages ago so this warmth tolerant thing is elusive. Anyway, the growers in a local orchid society who grow soft-canes treat them all the same.

Here is a link that might be useful: Soft-cane photos

This post was edited by arthurm on Wed, Nov 27, 13 at 4:44

Hardy elusive Arthur. The warmth tolerant nobiles have flooded the US market. You're far more likely to run into one of those. Plus a quick search can let you know the origin of many of the hybrids you find. That's how I found the origin of Ashes' Comet King.

This post was edited by terpguy on Wed, Nov 27, 13 at 9:13

"but some of those hybrids were registered ages ago so this warmth tolerant thing is elusive. "

Comet King was registered in 1992, perhaps the warmth tolerant eureka moment had not arrived.

The Yamamoto Franchise was not active here for many years (may still not be active) so the fanciers are relying on local breeders or what they can scrounge from other growers for supplies.

It is probably too small to flower yet. It will most likely flower on the next growth. Also get it potted into an orchid medium not soil as the soil probably killed your orchid's roots rendering it useless to flower. But culture sheets on softcane/nobile-type dendrobiums is highly recommended.

Arthur, Yamamoto has been around for 50 years.

Ditto on the culture sheets. I got my info from clouds orchids, it's based in niagara region. You'll want nobile type dendrobium. From the main page click orchid culture, type dendrobium in the first spot and it'll take you there. The sheets will be relevant to your zone

Yes, those culture sheets look pretty good and it is important to find those that relate to your climate and growing conditions.
Back to the Yamamoto stuff, a marketing dream. The point I was trying to make is surely not every nobile hybrid produced by that nursery is "warmth" tolerant.
I have Den. Yukidaruma 'King' originated by them in the early 1970's, still good and widely available here because it is easy to grow. As for being warmth tolerant. Who knows!
The Soft-Cane specialist grower who owns most of the soft-canes pictured in the link a few posts up treats them all the same whether they were originated by Yamamoto, someone in Japan or Fred down the road.