Blooming marvellous

Don’t want to skite … but looked what happened while I was away!

I’ve had this hybrid Dendrobium speciosum (Sydney rock orchid) for 5 or 6 years – bought in bloom from the Tauranga Orchid Show, but do you think I could get it to flower again?

As you may recall, I was advised last November to repot it (ie, replace the bark) to try and encourage it to flower. The curious thing about orchids is that they don’t use their potting medium for anything other than stability – and can be potted in polystyrene balls, bark, sphagnum moss or scoria – but every so often orchids benefit from repotting. Read more about repotting here or here.

There have been new canes from this plant since I’ve owned it but no hint of a flower so you can imagine my delight when I saw unmistakable flower buds developing – and not one … but 10!! (Yes, two exclamation marks, it’s that amazing.)

Each arching flower spike (made up of lots of small flowers) is about 50cm long so the plant in full bloom is quite a sight. (Part of the hybrid nature of this plant is that it’s a lot bigger than a regular Dendrobium speciosum; sorry about being vague on its name, orchid growers don’t always have the best handwriting.) The flowers also have a sweet scent, quite light.

Everything orchid will be on show at the Tauranga Orchid Show this month (September 20-22), including advice on repotting. Details on the Events page.

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