Dendrobium macrophyllum

Base Price: $50.00

Intro:
This wonderful plant from New Guinea can flower during the spring or fall months with beautiful flowers that are bizarre in their shape and form. The flowers are cream with purple and mahogany hairs. The lip is wavy and striped in bright mahogany and comes down and forward like a curled up tongue. The petals are slightly twisted and white. The sepals are pale green with lighter mahogany spotting. The flowers come out in well rounded heads and are wonderfully fragrant. The leaves are very broad, almost like phalaenopsis leaves on top of a cane-like pseudobulb. The pseudobulbs are rigid and short, from 8-10 inches tall generally and 1-1.5 inch thick. The leaves are from 6-10 inches long and 3-4 inches in width.

Light:
Grow this plant in low to medium light as you would a phalaenopsis. We made the mistake of growing them in higher light and found they did not like it at all. The leaves are naturally a very dark green on well grown plants. If the plant is growing nicely but not flowering for you in your phalaenopsis conditions, try moving it to slightly brighter light.

Temperature:
This plant is a lowland grower and prefers warm temperatures. 63-65 degree night temperatures and 75-90 degree daytime temperatures are acceptable.

Humidity:
This plant loves humidity, being from New Guinea, and the more the better is the key. Recommended minimum is 50%, and maximum of 80%. Good air movement is essential to help prevent disease problems in conditions of high humidity.

Water:
This plant loves water and does not want to become dry unlike most dendrobiums. We find that when dried out, pseudobulbs shrivel quickly, the leaves turn yellow and very often drop, or turn black at the tip. Water with rain water, distilled, or reverse osmosis water.

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 grows almost like a cattleya in many ways, developing new growths with broad leaves in a bifoliate fashion with a sheath that forms on top of these leaves. Sometimes there are a couple of sheaths, one within the other. >From this sheath emerges the flowering spike. This can occur rather quickly and the flowers last for 1.5 to 2 months. This plant has the unique habit of producing flower stems from the same growth year after year.

Repotting:
This plant wants to be repotted in the spring months after flowering when new growth is beginning, or anytime new growth is emerging. We suggest a mix containing a higher proportion of poultry grade peat in it, as this plant loves water. A moisture retentive, well draining mix is the key to success with this plant. We prefer clay pots for this plant as it gets larger, because it has a top-heavy nature.