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getting to rebloom


Question
QUESTION: I have a Dendrobium Woo Leng's short its growing great, new growth two feet tall, i've had it over two years and yet no new spikes. I feed it every week with a 20-20-20 fert. any help would be great

ANSWER: Tom, two thoughts come to me.  First, you can answer if you received it in bloom. Some dendrobiums are cool growing and need a temperature drop into the 50's to st the buds.  These cool growers have buds which grow from nodes dirctly on the canes (as opposed to flower spikes). I attempted to check this on a hybrid registry but this hybrid cross is a complex hybrid that has ancestry many generations back so it would be better if you knew how the buds emerged to answer this question.  The other type of dendrobium (ie phalaenopsis type)which  blooms on flower spikes from the top of the canes is a warm grower that likes temperatures in the 75-85 degrees range.  Both types need fairly high light to bloom.  If your plant has fairly dark green leaves, you will need to increase the light level. Dendrobiums bloom best when their canes are a light green (near straw color).  You could try a high phosphorous fertilizer (ie bloom booster) in place of th balanced fertilizer, but I think the higher light levels (perhaps in combination with the bloom booster) would give you the best chance for flowering.  Finally, some dendrobiums bloom only on a previous year's growth but if can get the right conditions, that shouldn't matter since you have both current and previous year's growth.

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QUESTION: the spikes come out the top and yes the plant is too dark green

Answer
Tom, then you need to focus on increasing the light level and warmth. I would also switch to a "bloom booster" plant food.  Sometimes introducing a stressor can initiate flowering.  Such a stressor could be reducing the watering and feeding.  What is good for growing is often the opposite of what is good for inducing budding and subsequent flowering.

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