ARGH! I had a kingianum from an orchid rescue (someone rescued from a greenhouse foreclosure) and though it grew lovely, never a flower in 7 years. So...I do envy yours the lovely bloom :) It's obviously well grown and very happy.

I finally lost mine during an extended illness (mine...not the orchids) a few years back or I'd probably still be praying this would be the year.

Aaww, sorry to read about your stubborn kingie.
My kingie was kinda rescued from my own yard from my own neglect. I made a point to water diligently and it while it gets little more than full days sun all year I leave it out in the winter rains.
This hybrid is a strong grower in particular. It responded well to re-potting at the right time last year and if it blooms in my yard it's tough.

Lovely and so rich in blooms

Thank you inga!

Very nice. Thanks for sharing! I have also had very little luck with kingies. Their winter care is way to tricky for me in my climate.

I guess, Cali's drier climate makes a little easier to keep. Pretty dry winter in Dec-Feb.

Certainly helps. I have winter temperatures near or below freezing from late November to early April. During that time my plants are inside with 70F degree day and 55-60 degrees nights. So it is definitely a challenge. For now I will appreciate the pictures of others.

I have recently received a nice bare root king - it is just not showing much of any new growth coming, but it is not going down hill either. I read that their native home would be growing on rocky surfaces so I placed it in lava. The leaves are tough and thin (thickness) does that sound right? Any advice of successful growing conditions are welcome.

Wonderful photos of your beautiful king aztcqn 10!

Happy Spring!

Tough thin and pretty rigid (for as thin as they are)..yep, sounds about right.

I won't give any advise, since I never flowered mine, though growth was fine. I conclude they're very tough.

Darlene,
Freezing in April, wow! Seems with the challenge you've developed an intuitive growing sense from outdoors to indoors.

Susan, Thank you!
I think for me getting the watering routine right, was key. I water twice a weekish when they are growing new shoots and roots, which is spring and summer. My watering is not clock-work and they do dry out in between, but, I compensate by wetting them down (heavy misting) every day at least once. I pot them in clay pots to avoid rot from winter rains as I grow all my orchids outside year round.

I got this little guy in rocks only. It was falling out of it's pot as the roots were dry and not attached to anything. But in it went into seedling bark and perlite. Moisture retention seems to alleviate the salt burn while perlite allows mix to breath.

For the bigger plants I use bark sized for cattleyas mixed with
large perlite. Quick drying and an open mix has worked for me. I
re-potted all my kings this way last year and a few came back with many spikes.
They can take full sunlight as long as the root systems are well managed. Full sun also developed a strong blush on the flowers.

dbarron,
That is a fact. They are certainly forgiving of a lot of neglect.
They are rewarding me for finally treating them with respect.

You live in California and you are misting a kingianum. Lol.

The best procedure for growing a kingianum for those living in the Frozen North of the USA is to find a copy of the late Wilford Neptune's kingianum notes on the net and follow those.

I probably should start misting mine rather than just ignoring them. They are known around these parts by the general public as the pink rock orchid and so on.

I found one growing wild in the Lamington National Park ages ago. Not in the rain forest (or the jungle) But on top of an arid hill growing in stony dirt. Overhead was poor scrubby stuff that gave a little bit of protection from the worst of the sun.

No rain forest in that place because the Lava Flow that is the reason for the Rain Forest missed that spot. Den. kingianum is adapted to survive an annual temp range of about 2 to 40C infrequent erratic rainfall and high light.

I was wondering if the cool drop here in Los Angeles was enough. Apparently so.
It gets hot here and very dry in the height of summer. I wind up with shriveled undersized bulbs. The wetting down seems to keep the roots and bulbs from desiccating and becoming weak growths for the year.
I'm going to keep an eye on the keiki production, tho....
Culture of Dendrobium kingianum

Just had a look at the Climate Data for LA. Just keep on with your method. Hotter and Drier there than here. Average Annual rainfall for Sydney is 48 inches Unevenly distributed. Heavy rain can fall at any time of year. So this bone dry stuff doesn't apply though the prevailing winter westerly wind is very arid and will dry the plants quickly.

Average sunshine is 300 sunny days a year.

Wow, 300 out of a year is a lot of sunny!
Right now the trees have all leafed out, so, I have a nice dappled environment for them. Afternoon sun can still bake them. Now, to get the sun requirements ( somewhere I read that technically just "blast" them with sun) for the den. aggregatum while keeping up with water.....