Repotting Yamamoto Dendrobiums. 1.29.19

These Yamamoto Dendrobiums kept falling over.  I think I over-nurtured them last summer and fall, and they became top heavy.  Maybe they would have bloomed already if I held off longer on watering and did not fertilize as much.  Still, they are very lush.  Maybe they will bloom later.

These orchids usually prefer being fairly pot-bound, but I don't like having them be so top-heavy and maybe dry out too fast between waterings.  So I repotted them.

Not much to it this time.  I just removed the pots and without much root disturbance, filled in with more orchid bark medium around the original roots.  I watered them in to settle the orchid bark.  They will be without water for a while now, as they settle in.

There is no excess of keikis - new stems with roots growing on top of the old stems.  That can happen with too much fertilizing too.  So I think they got enough, and not too much.  They look pretty happy with the care they got.

Yamamoto Dendrobium nobile in Bloom. 3.20.18

These are Yamamoto Dendrobium nobile hybrid orchids that I've had for, maybe, 10 years. During the summer, I just sit them under a tree. During the winter, I keep them in the sunroom, although any sunny window would do. This is when they bloom like crazy. I gave them a little diluted general plant food in January. Super easy to grow and maintain.

Sunroom Orchids. 3.24.16

Here are some of the sunroom orchids. I don't do much to take care of them. Once in a while I repot in some arborist woodchips. Once in a while I give them very dilute tomato fertilizer.  This year I do not have the burden of corporate life, and might give them more attention.

Dendrobium nobile.  3.24.16

Cymbidium.  3.24.16

Dendrobium nobile.  3.24.16

Dendrobium nobile.  3.24.16

Twinkle type oncidium.  3.24.16

Yamamoto Dendrobium Hybrid. 1.8.15

Yamamoto Dendrobium nobile hybrid.  1.8.15

This was unlabeled when I bought it, years ago.  Probably more than 5 years.  I think the variety is "Fancy Angel, Lycee".  Blooms intermittently, reliably, very nice.  I usually just water, sometimes some MG - Tomato at 1/4 tsp per gallon.

Dendrobium Nobile in Bloom. 8.10.14

Dendrobium nobile 8.10.14

This Yamamoto-type Dendrobium nobile has been outside on the North side of the house.  I water it about once weekly or when I remember.  I noted buds last week.  Pretty nice.  This one is around 10 years old.

Orchid Progress Report. Yamamoto Dendrobium. 2.22.14

Yamamoto-type Dendrobium nobile

This Yamamoto Dendrobium was in the kitchen East window sill at the Battleground place, for the summer.  I brought it to Vancouver when flower buds started.

Based on comparison to web photos on the Yamamoto Dendrobium site, I think this is Fancy Angel "Lycee".  The plant for is quite different, due to my growth conditions.  I leave old canes in place, too, for nutrient storage by the plant and because it makes me think of how the plant might look growing in the wild.  Although these are such refined hybrids, nothing like them would be in the wild.  This was originally a Trader Joe orchid, probably 5 or more years ago.

Dendrobium nobile Spring Dream "Apollon"

 Added this Dendrobium nobile from Trader Joes.  I looks like Spring Dream "Apollon".  Since I am not producing or selling them, I will label it as such.   Taller and robust.

Here is an unlabeled Miltoniopsis hybrid bought a few weeks ago.  Continues to bloom.  The entire bathroom is fragrant from this flower.  Also Trader Joe.  Possibly "Maui Sunset".

Dendrobium nobile and Miltoniopsis hybrid

Orchids. Progress Report. 2.12.14

Green Cymbidium

Dendrobium nobile

Some nice orchid flowers now.  This is the first rebloom for this green flowered Cymbidium.  Pale green with white center.

The Yamamoto Dendrobium nobile is equally nice.

These make February more tolerable.

These had little pampering this year.  I had them outside, east side of the house in Battleground, for the summer and early fall.  I brought them inside as it started to cool off.

I rarely watered them.  When buds started to form, I watered using dilute general purpose plant food.

Orchid Progress Report. Removing and potting a Keikei. Dendrobium in bloom. 1.21.14

keikei before removal

keikei with original stem removed

 This Yamamoto dendrobium had one keikei.  I've been meaning to cut it off and plant it.

Today I did.  It's larger than most of the keikeis I've started.

I cut below and above the attachment site.  I left a small piece of stem, rather than being perfectionist and possibly damaging the keikei.  I let it dry several hours.

Then planted in orchid bark.  Watered it in.  Now back into the window.

This is so easy.  This orchid is about as tough as a cactus.  It does not need a humidity chamber.

I tried not to damage roots but did damage a couple.  I think it will be OK.

Planted in orchid bark

Dendrobium in bloom

It needed to be propped up.  The rubber bands and clothes pin were all I had on hand.

The blooming dendrobium was pure white, with green center, when it bloomed before.  I think.  This time there is a pink blush.

I leave the old stems in the plant.  It looks more artistic that way.  It shows I've had the plant a while, not bought yesterday at the store.

This one survived a few months when I was sick.  Almost no care.. Left it outside, east side of house.  Brought it in before frost.  Tough plant.  I like it.

Indoor Garden. Orchids Blooming.

Cymbidium hybrid

Plant window in home office.  Cymbidium, Dendrobiums, and Oncidium.

Sanseveria and twinkle Oncidium orchids

Cold day.   Appreciate indoor garden.

The cymbidium hybrid was outside west of the house, out of full sun, all summer.  It did not get much water.  Brought inside in October.  Now blooming.  Watering with a diluted balanced mineral supplement.

Similar for the Oncidium hybrids.

The Sanseveria was left to languish in dry area on north porch, no water all summer.  I brought it inside and left it in garage, in October.  It's been there until today.  I cut off the dead  leaves.  It should regenerate by Spring.  Gives me something to appreciate growing.

Repotted the Yamamoto dendrobiums.  They had similar treatment.  I don't know what they'll do.  The look good considering how much they dried out.

I wondered how orchids and other plants survived the months-long journeys by ship in the Victorian era, and before that.  Many can handle extended period of dry, minimal light, and general neglect, for months.  Then regenerate when conditions are better.

There are other Cymbidiums.  One looks like it might also bloom.  The main issue with them - aphids.  The buds are covered with aphids when they are about to bloom.  A couple of sprayings with neem oil, and they look great.

It's nice to have plants that were dormant, or at least required minimal effort, in the summer, regenerate in the winter.

Orchid Blogging

During the summer there is so much going on, I tend to neglect the orchids. They give me so much pleasure during the winter, but sometimes they surprise me in Summer too. This one is probaby "Apollon" but was not labeled.  No special care - just tried to avoid completely drying out.  While cropping the pics I noted a visitor.

These are both Dendrobium nobile hybrids.

A closer view without kitty cat.

Cats are strange.

Orchid Report

During all of the destruction, construction, work and chaos, I've tried to keep the orchids properly placed, watered and fed. There may be a few casualties, but I think most have come through it. One concern was the fumes from floor finishing - it may be a while before the effects show up, but there does not appear to be any immediate death due to that exposure.

A new addition, Brassada Orange Delight "Hilo Sunrise". It was in spike and is now blooming. Bright and cheerful, compact size. If it stays small, and grows new, blooming pseudobulbs next year, that will be great.

Yamamoto Dendrobium Spring Dream "Apollon". These are the first blossoms on growth in my hands. It's interesting that so many of the Yamamoto Dendrobiums bloom in summer and again in winter.

Another view of Spring Dream "Apollon". The central eye is greener than shows up on the digital photo.  It has a single keiki, which is cool. If there were a lot of keikis, it would be a sign over too much nitrogen, but this one is on old non-blooming growth, and is a single keiki.  I will let it grow in place for a while.  There is also a new growth from the base.  Once the plant is done blooming, I will change back to a higher nitrogen orchid food to encourage the new growth to develop.

Yamamoto Dendrobium Yellow Song "Canary".

Yamamoto Dendrobiums progress report

These are most of the Yamamoto dendrobiums, out for the summer. I've been gradually moving them from the shaded part of the grape arbor to the full sun area. No sun burn to speak of. I've been watering them every couple of days. The weather is mostly overcast and warm but not hot. I've been giving them high nitrogen growth-food in a weak 1/4 strength solution. We still have rain water so I am not worried yet about salts.

This is the one that I identified as "Love Memory Fizz". I was surprised that it provided a few flowers in early summer. As I was taking the photo, I noted the fragrance. I did not recall it being fragrant. It has 3 new canes. They started slightly above the bark level so I added some fresh bark to the top to give the roots a place to grow. With some TLC and sunshine it should make a nice show next winter.

I stuck this cane section from "Yellow Song Canary" in bark medium this winter, just to see if it would grow. At this stage, the answer is "maybe". It will be slow. I like these little experiments.

The other keiki starts, one from "Love Memory Fizz" from July 2010 and the other from "Yellow Song Canary" this spring. Yesterday I potted them up a little into small, squat, clay pots. The heavier pots are less likely to fall over.

Starting Another Dendrobium nobile from a keiki

Dendrobium Yellow Song "Canary" grew a nice keiki so I decided to remove it and pot it up. Some of the web references, that I read, claim that keikis siphon energy off from the parent plant. Removal of the keiki ("keikiectomy"?) might help it grow and bloom. I don't know if the authors truly know that. But it's part of web orchid lore. There's also the fun of watching a new plant grow.

This was a keiki that I started in July. This was a nice, easily blooming variety, white flowers with blue fringes. It grew a nice fat looking pseudobulb cane, and now is producing 2 new sprouts. It's been getting the "weakly, weekly" 1/4 strength plant food treatment, high nitrogen growth formula version.

I've left it in the original container and growth medium. It may be good for another 6 months or year, before repotting is needed.

This is the Dendrobium Yellow Song "Canary" and keiki. I let it grow longer than I intended. I think no harm was done.


A section of parent pseudobulb is cut off along with the keiki. I don't have the fine touch, to just pull it off without causing damage. So I cut a section instead. The green root tips are a sign of healthy active growth.

Similarly, I removed the remainder of the cane, from above the keiki.

Some cinnamon is added to the cut surfaces. That's for mold prevention.
Resting in new container on bark-based orchid mix. Before adding medium, I placed the bamboo support stake into the pot. Easier that way. Less likely to damage the keiki's roots.
Now more bark medium is added. The top of the medium is at the juncture of keiki with stem.

Now it's just a matter of care. Same as an established orchid plant. I watered to settle it in, but will try to hold off more watering for a week or so. Probably best not to have watered the first day. I don't have the self discipline to wait.

Another Yamamoto-type dendrobium

The office needed cheering up and there were no orchids in bloom, so I added this one. NOID. Most closely matches the variety on the Yamamoto Dendrobium website, New Century "Happiness". I know that matching to a photo is an imperfect method at best, but it gives me something to work on until I have a better answer. At the very least, it's clearly a Dendrobium nobile hybrid. This one has interesting plant morphology, "Dr. Seussian" shape with very skinny stem at the bark medium surface, quickly widening into a very stout stem. I like the plants that have an interesting shape in addition to nice flowers. This purple color does not photograph true. Looking at the plant, and the photo, the color in the photo is much lighter. I've noticed that with other purple orchids as well. The flower on the Yamamoto orchid site is lighter in color than this plant in person, but very close to the color of this photo.

Orchids in January: Promises

A couple of hours with an ice pack on my back, and 600mg of ibuprofen, and I was up to walking around with the camera and looking at the "promises" of orchid blooms. They are gradual, but they always bring hope. A bit over one year ago, I didn't know if I could bring orchids into bloom, or if they would even survive. Now the windows are full of orchids, many with buds or spikes. Most are in South windows unless otherwise stated.

This Cymbidium continues to lengthen its spike. I try to be patient. Actually, there is no other choice! It's my first attempt at a Cymbidium, and I'm happy it's come this far. The flowers are brownish with magenta spotted lip, difficult for me to describe. If I've indexed it right, it can be found by clicking on the Cymbidium label.

As I was walking around taking photos, I noticed a new spike on this Burrageara Stefan Isler "Lava Flow". I am SO EXCITED! COOL! I was ready to give up hope for reblooming Oncidium alliance orchids. This one really grew nicely last year, several new pseudobulbs, a full specimen plant. I've been noticing the newer pseudobulbs swelling, and looked as recently as this week without seeing the any new spikes. I was starting to think about whether I wanted to keep it.

So like a proud parent with a camera, here is the spike! Did it grow from almost nothing to 3 inches overnight? Or did I just not notice it? Still quite some growth to happen before it blooms, but I think that the biggest hurdle is getting it to decide to make a spike. This is so cool!

Like the good child in the family, this Yamamoto Dendrobium Fancy Angel "Lycee" continues to behave and impress, without much encouragement, out performing everyone else and not getting a lot of credit for it because it is so reliable. Starting to spike again after a beautiful performance 2 months ago. A very reliable and beautiful flower.

This Trader Joe's Yamamoto Dendrobium "NOID Purple" (my name) is also a strong performer, but hasn't bloomed before this winter. Here we see new buds swelling. I also bloomed last winter and again during the summer. (Added later - I forgot I had decided this is Yamamoto Dendrobium Love Memory "Fizz". Looks just like it, and with that name I must have it.)

Here is the keiki that I started from above Trade Joe's Yamamoto Dendrobium "Purple", sharing a supplemental light source in the South window. The light is mainly there for the two Dendrobium phalaenopsis - type hybrids, that I suspect need more light in the winter. They are "Anching Lubag" and "Genting", for the record. Whether they will grow and rebloom is a question I hope is answered this year. The Yamamoto keiki, now a plant on it's own, is fattening up nicely and is maturing. It would be cool if it bloomed at a small size, but regardless, it's fun to have started an orchid plant "from the beginning".

Here is the Trader Joe's Epidendrum "NOID Red" (again, my name. Creative....) but it needs to be called something. These are said to be very easy, but you never know until you grow them yourself. It's making several new spikes on growth that happened in 2010 so it's another case of "I did it!" It's in a South window.

Iwanagaara Appleblossom "Fantasy" appears to have a nice spike on one of the new, larger-fatter pseudobulbs that grew last year. It's in a South window. I understand that these can give up while there is still a sheath, but have some hope. Holding it to the light, there appears to be a flower bud inside that sheath. Same is true for unpictured Potinara Achung Yoyo "Little Goldfish" which, if only because of the name, I would love to see it bloom.

A beautifully burgundy-leafed Phalenopsis (or is it Doritonopsis?) which has had a slowly growing flower spike for about 6 months. Inch by inch..... It's in a North window.

This rebloom-on-old-spike Phaenenopsis is another case of reliability to the point of taking for granted. Of course, I haven't had it bloom from a de novo new spike yet, but it's been in bloom for months and months. The photo doesn't do it justice, it's darker than the photo shows. It's in a West window.

Another Phalaenopsis about to rebloom on existing spikes. This one is white with pink polka-dots. Quite pretty. It also has a de novo spike. It's in a South window. In my area, even South windows are gloomy this time of year.