Difference Between Evergreen & Deciduous Dendrobium Orchids

Description

• Some species of Dendrobiums have jointed stems that look like canes. Other species have pseudo-bulbs that may be fat and succulent or long and thin. A pseudo-bulb stores nutrients and water like a regular plant bulb. The difference is that pseudo-bulbs grow between two nodes on a creeping stem called a rhizome. Most evergreen Dendrobiums bear flowers in erect clusters with single flowers at the nodes or in drooping racemes or stems that have flowers at intervals. The leaves drop from deciduous Dendrobiums each year leaving dry, shriveled, bamboo-like canes that bear flowers from their nodes.

Watering

• Water the roots of evergreen Dendrobiums, but let deciduous Dendrobiums dry out when they are dormant. When they are dry, deciduous Dendrobiums look like dry bamboo canes. Keep them cooler when they are dormant; if you keep them too warm and moist, they likely will not bloom. When they begin growing again, the joints of the canes will begin to swell. Move them to a warm spot and water them well.

Flowering

• Evergreen Dendrobiums flower in the second year of their growth and continue for several years. Deciduous species carry only leaves for one or two years; then produce flowers on leafless canes.

Propagation

• Propagate an evergreen Dendrobium just after it sheds its flowers. Cut two or more sections from the bottom of a stem. The sections should contain new shoots. If the species has pseudo-bulbs, make sure stems that you collect have two or more of them. Do not discard old pseudo-bulbs. They can produce flowers the next year. Follow the same procedure to propagate deciduous Dendrobiums, but make sure you do it in the spring when the orchids emerge from dormancy. If you propagate them at other times, dip the top end of the cuttings in root hormones, not the bottom. Orchids yield new growth first; then their roots develop.