I bought the plant as a seedling from Dick Warren in 2004. I have never had much success with tiny plants out of flasks so I usually wait until I find some more mature plantlets. There are about 150 species of Dendrochilum, spread across Borneo, Sumatra and the Philippines. American botanist Oakes Ames described Ddc. longibulbum in 1912 but literature about the species seems very sparse. This species has been found growing in the Philippines at elevations between 1900 – 6000 ft on the slopes of volcanoes amongst thick moss on ledges and in rock crevices, receiving constant moisture from rain and mist. Hawkes does not mention this species, but he indicates that the genus requires intermediate to hot conditions. I find that my plant grows best amongst my Odontoglossums with a minimum temperature of 8 – 10°C being watered all year, so I guess the higher elevation is closer to its natural home. The species resents root disturbance, so as my plant grows it is “dropped on” to a larger pot of my standard bark/moss/perlite mix. Richard Baxter
Dendrochilum cobbianum
Dendrochilum cobbianum
An epiphytic species from the Philippines where it is said to grow in full sun. Mine doesn’t !!
I bought the plant in 2008 from Richard Warren (Equitorial Plants) as a very young plant/seedling. Perhaps, more by accident than design, I seem to have found a spot in the greenhouse which suits it as it has just grown and grown steadily. It is on the bench on the north side of the greenhouse in a quite densely packed group of plants thus being a little shady. Further shading is provided by a couple of largish plants hanging to the front of it. So – definitely not in full sun. Minimum temperature is around 56F. Routine watering and feeding (every second watering) using anything I have at the time – Akerne Rain Mix, Tomarite, Phostrogen etc. It seems happy enough with whatever it gets.
It was repotted as recently as August of this year in a bark/large perlite/foam mix so it is pleasing that it has flowered so well, so soon afterwards. It has something like 30 spikes with say 100 flowers per spike. Whilst the individual flowers are not particularly outstanding, the number of spikes with the number of flowers per spike make it a quite impressive plant. Brian Woodwar