Dendrobium victoria-reginae

Base Price: $55.00

Cross: ('Blue Velvet' x 'Indigo Blue')

Intro:
Dendrobium victoria-reginae is a species native to the highland areas of the Philippines. Beautiful violet-blue flowers emerge from the sides of the pendulous pseudobulbs. They are long lasting and the plant can often flower more than once per year. These are small plants with narrow canes at the base. The growths should be staked up when grown on a bench or hung with a single wire hanger allowing the canes to hang down. This plant rarely grows more than 10 inches in height. This particular sib between ‘Blue velvet' and ‘Indigo Blue’ produce a high percentage of excellent blues as they were line bred for color shape and size.
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Light:
Medium light is best, from 1500-3500 foot-candles. More light is acceptable in winter, with slightly shadier conditions in the spring and summer. This plant will do well under artificial light in light as given for Cattleyas.
P.L. Lights systems are a great way to provide artificial light to your orchids. See our P.L. Lights page for more information on this great product we offer.

Temperature:
Prefers winter temps of 55-62º at night and days of 68-75º. Summer temps can be warmer

Humidity:
50% or higher is ideal. The use of humidity trays or room humidifiers is beneficial.
We offer two products that can help increase humidity levels. The humidity tray offered in black or white, and the Mist Maker. Please click on the underlined text for more information on these products.

Water:
It is best to use rainwater, distilled or reverse osmosis water. Municipal water with a pH of 7.5 or lower can also be used. This plant likes abundant water during the growing season from spring through fall. During the winter months after the growths have matured and hardened, allow the plant to become drier at the roots between watering. Watering every 2-3 weeks in the winter may be sufficient. It is acceptable for the canes to shrivel slightly. If they continue shriveling, however, increase the frequency of watering. Use rain, distilled or reverse osmosis water for best results. Melted snow works well too!
Overwatering can cause several problems such as root rot and infectious bacteria/fungus in the potting medium. One product we offer that can help these problems if caught at an early stage is Phyton 27 bactericide and fungicide.

Fertilizer:
We highly recommend using Green Jungle Orchid Food, especially formulated to work with rain, distilled, reverse osmosis water or water low in alkalinity. Fertilize with Green Jungle every time you water if plants are planted in bark. Be sure to flush the mix with clear water only once per month to prevent fertilizer salt build up. For plants in moss or mounted on slabs feed every third or 4th watering as the moss holds a lot of nutrients.

Or use GrowMore 20-10-20 Ureafree for municipal or well water. Use at the rate of ½ teaspoon per gallon. If using GrowMore with rain, distilled, or reverse osmosis water, add back in 5 - 10% municipal or well water to supply the necessary calcium and magnesium. Fertilize every other watering in the summer and every third watering in the winter.

Another fertilizer offered is: GrowMore 6-30-30 (Cymbidium and bloom boosting formula).

Flowering:
This plant can flower more than once per year but the heaviest production of flowers occurs in the spring months. The growth that matured over the summer will start pushing out flower buds between the leaf axils of the plant causing the foliage to turn yellow and fall off. This is normal. When you see these buds forming, keep the plant more evenly moist. New growths should follow flowering. The flower size is between an inch and a half to two inches. The colors vary slightly but for the most part are a deep violet blue. Temperature and light can influence color as well. When the light is bright and the temps are cooler darker blue flowers will result. Sometimes when we have shipped plants in flower the color changes while in the box becoming a purple lavender. In a day or two they change back to the deep blue once they are in normal growing conditions. It is important to remember that when the flowers first open they will appear purple but after just a few days they deepen to blue.

Repotting:
This plant has a pendulous growth habit in nature. If grown in pots the canes must be staked. If grown on slabs or hydrologs, grow with canes hanging down. The best time for repotting or mounting is in the spring just after flowering. New Zealand sphagnum moss or a small bark mix is best for potting.
We offer several different types of potting medium. Here are direct links to what we believe to be some of the best potting mediums available for orchids: Orchids Limited bark mix, New Zealand sphagnum moss, coco husk, coco peat, sponge rock,charcoal, tree fern fiber, osmunda fiber and cork slabs for epiphytic plants.