Dendrobium wattii is native to the Himalayas (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Yunnan) and to Indochina (Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam). It grows epiphytic on trees in dense forests at an altitude of 1500 to 2600 meters above sea level...
Dendrobium wattii also called as Watt's Dendrobium, Callista wattii, Dendrobium cariniferum var wattii, Dendrobium evrardii, is a species of the genus Dendrobium. This species was described by Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach in 1888.
IDENTIFY DENDROBIUM WATTII ORCHID PLANT
Dendrobium wattii is native to the Himalayas (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Yunnan) and to Indochina (Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam). It grows epiphytic on trees in dense forests at an altitude of 1500 to 2600 meters above sea level.
It is a miniature to medium sized, cool to cold growing epiphyte with slender, cylindrical, up to 40-50 cm long canes carrying 4 to 8, narrowly linear, leathery leaves with the leaf sheaths having fine black hairs.
Watt's Dendrobium blooms in the spring on a short inflorescence arising near the apex of leafless canes with 2 to 3 flowers. The flowers are white with a small fraction of the yellow inside the lip, about 6 cm in diameter.
DENDROBIUM WATTII ORCHID PLANT CARE AND CULTURE
Cultural information should only be used as a guide, and should be to be adapted to suit you. Your physical location; where you grow your plants, how much time you have to devote to their care, and many other factors, will need to be taken into account. Only then can you decide on the cultural methods that best suit you and your plants.
Light:
Dendrobium wattii loves bright sunlight and is able to tolerate direct sunlight (up to 55000 lux), while acquiring a lighter shade of leaves and pseudobulbs. The location of the plant may be southern, western and eastern orientations, on the northern windows.
Temperature:
This kind of orchid refers to a moderately warm temperature regime, and it is recommended to keep the orchids under the following conditions throughout the year: Summer temperature at 17-30 ° C; Winter temperature at 12-21 ° C. To successfully grow at home, it is necessary that the night temperature of the content is always 4-5 ° C lower than the daytime temperature.
Humidity:
In natural habitats, the relative humidity of the air rarely falls below 60%. In conditions of high humidity, it is necessary to regularly ventilate the room where the plants are kept, since wet, stale air is an ideal medium for the mass reproduction of various fungal and bacterial diseases.
Substrate, growing media and repotting:
Dendrobium wattii can be grow in plastic and clay pots or hanging lattice baskets and placed on blocks. As a substratum, any purchased mixture based on the bark of coniferous trees, peat and moss sphagnum, it is also possible to grow the plant in a clean moss or to lay bark and moss with layers, for example, 1/3 of a pot of coarse fraction and 2 / 3 pots of pure moss. When growing orchids on blocks to prevent rapid drying of the root system of the plant, it is recommended to make a small interlayer of moss between it and the block. Above the roots, you can also put live or dry sphagnum.
Repotting is desirable only when it is really necessary, for example, in cases of severe salinization or condensation of the substrate, at its critically high or low pH (norm from 5.5 to 6.5) or , when the plant will grow very much and the pot will become too small for it (pseudobulbs will begin to hang from the edges of the pot). The best time for transplant is the time when new orchid sprouts reach a size of 5 cm and begin to build their own roots.
Watering:
The frequency and abundance of watering the orchids of this species directly depends on the overall temperature of the content and intensity of the illumination, the higher they are, the more often and abundant it is necessary to water. Plants growing on blocks, it is desirable to water daily in the morning, so that by evening their roots could dry out relatively well. When watering orchids in pots, it is necessary to remember that excess water during watering should flow freely out of the pot, as the stagnation of water both inside the pot and in its pallet can very quickly lead to rotting of the roots and the lower part of the plant.
Fertilizer:
During active growth, this kind of orchids is fertilized once every 10-15 days in the usual concentration of fertilizer indicated on the package. In addition to root top dressing, it is also recommended to produce a foliar dressing when the outer part of the plant is sprayed with a very diluted fertilizer. It is best to feed the orchid, alternating both these methods. The best fertilizer is fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in equal parts, for example, NPK = 3-3-3 or 8-8-8. If you do not have such fertilizer, then at the beginning of the growing season (the emergence of new shoots), feed the orchid with a fertilizer with a high nitrogen content, and when the sprout reaches 1/2 of its normal growth - a fertilizer with a higher content of phosphorus and potassium.
Rest period:
Dendrobium wattii does not need any period of rest: neither for stimulation of flowering, nor in winter. With decreasing light intensity in autumn, watering the orchid slightly decreases (as the roots begin to absorb moisture more slowly), however, this is not a truly rest period. Refusal of flowering, as a rule, is caused by insufficient lighting, a common stress state (for example, a bad root system), lack of sufficient differences between night and day temperatures, or too hot content.
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