AboutWayne King Expertise Any question about orchid culture. I have thirty+ yrs of growing experience,president 2x of our local Orchid Growers Guild,held a position in most all other offices associated with the Guild at one time or another. Head of Orchid judging team for local club meetings and some shows. Member of two Orchid Socities and local Rep.for Mid America Orchid Congress for several yrs.I have in my collection about 800 Orchid plants of all types.
Experience
Past/Present clients Previously an expert on expertcentral.com.
Question this year my orchids have failed, we have @6 plants all together receiving plenty of space, light and water, we live on the sunshine coast in the hinterland, 4 out of the 6 plants the flowers started to come out and befor they opened they turned yellow and droped off,could you tell what caused this please.also ive been told that if i cut off the old flower stem just after it finnishes about 2 nodes up i will get new flower flush.
also
Answer Richard, thanks for the questions. I assume these dendrobiums have done well and flowered for you in the past and that you are growing them in the same place as when you successfully flowered them. If these assumptions are incorrect, we'll have to revisit the question. Also, since you didn't mention any problems with the plants themselves, that is not an issue. I'm assuming you are growing these outside. If so, an environmental change, such as an unusually cool or dry period could be responsible for bud drop. If this presumption is not correct, I will need more information as to your growing conditions and what is different from past years.
While spike branching is possible from phalaenopsis nodes as you described, I am not aware of it occuring with dendrobiums. Dendrobiums are a diverse group of orchids. Some bloom only on the old canes and others only on new canes. Some are cool growing which bloom dirctly from the cane and others are warm blooming which bloom from flowers spikes that originate from the top of the canes. Since most dendrobiums grown by the hobbyist are hybrids, it often helps to know the name of the hybrid so we can identify the species involved in making the hybrid.
Any additional information in the areas I referenced, may enable me to be more helpful.
