Dendrobium amethystoglossum Question

I bought this plant bare root as a present for myself last Christmas. After few weeks in sphag and bag, it started to grow roots, new shoot and a tiny spike all at the same time. Last month, I finally took it out of the bag and put it outside among the other orchids I have. It was warm,( about 22 celsius) so far so good. Last week the temp went down again to around 9- 14 C, but it was rainy and the humidity around 94%. I neglected to take the D amethystoglossum inside. In fact, I didn't bother to take any of the outdoor orchids inside this time. The cold temp and the wet weather lasted for about a week. This week is warm again, and everything are doing fine, except for the D amethystoglossum spike. It turned mushy and i have to cut it off (it was already around 2" long). I have read from the Orchid species site that this grow from warm to cool condition.

My question is, how cold is cool? The plant itself and the others appeared to be unharmed by the cold. What I found puzzling is, if the cold weather is to be blamed for the demise of the spike, Then why the spikes of my vanda type orchids remained unharmed?( One is Asco. John de Biase and the other is a NOID Vandathera type.) Anybody has any experience growing D amethystoglossum? I would appreciate any tips. Thanks a bunch.

Tanya, I've never grown that species, but Dends in general can be very prone to bud blast / spike loss. I've found here that if conditions change markedly from the time the plant set the spike to the time the flowers open, buds will blast left and right and you can often lose the whole spikeful.

So I don't think it got too cold; I think it was the cold and wet change that made the plant abort its blooms. I wish they weren't so sensitive....

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Louis J. Aszod

Hi Tanya,

I have one, but mine has yet to bloom. _____ Orchids sells them (that's where I got mine) - they might be able to give you more specific advice. D. Amethystoglossum's flowers are so gorgeous, it's a shame you lost your spike.

Julie

Thanks for the advice, Louis and Julie. I am consoled by the fact that the new growth is doing well, and that the biggest cane is showing sign of spiking but I am not going to do the happy dance yet . It could abort, our weather this time is like a teen ager with mood swing LOL.