The growing season amazes me. The Dendrobium aggregatum I'm babysitting for my mother seems to be putting out something. I hope they're roots. But the plant is comprised of half-rotten and shriveled pseudobulbs and absolutely no roots whatsoever; I'm frankly quite surprised at what some heat and fertilizer and water can do.
The nobile NoID Dendrobium I have is shooting out keikis like crazy. The first and largest grew to a comfortable size (probably 7-9 inches), with a plethora of 3 inch roots. I plucked that off and put it in its own cozy plastic Starbucks-cup-turned-orchid-pot. The medium is fine bark, something I've had a modicum of success with in the one year of owning orchids.
The keikis indicate--most likely, but please don't quote me on it--that the plant is under extreme duress and looking for ways to continue its genetic lifespan. I guessed this was the case when it spiked and my hypothesis still seems valid. The initial canes are rather shriveled, further supporting this theory. Once the parent plant gives its last reserves to its asexual clones, I will probably throw it out, unfortunately. The way the keikis are situated make it way too hard to simply keep them on the parent plant; with limited space something so top-heavy would be a hassle to keep still.
The Miltonia I keep talking about is spike-happy. Last year when I bought it, the flowers were almost all dead, and they looked sort of torn up. I'm not sure if the difference in flower coloring, as minor as it is (more white, very limited purple coloring) is due to culture or simply because the flower was tattered at purchase.
Rebloom on a Paph NoID I have. At purchase there were 2 flowers on the spike...but I don't think that will happen this time around. Bad culture or a result of the forced flowering big box companies do?
And to end on a silly note, why do Oncidiums insist on growing so strangely? Silly thing, you are taking up a lot of room by growing at a 90 degree angle.
