Difference between evergreen/deciduous

idennis · #1 01-10-2012, 11:04 PM

How do you tell what type of dendrobium you have, whether it's an evergreen or deciduous?
One of the leaves is turning yellow on my dendrobium and i'm not sure if it's normal because i have no clue if its an evergreen or deciduous. any help would be great

orchid nut · #2 01-11-2012, 12:31 AM

I also have trouble with making this call. I got help from looking up my particular Dem. and discovered its habits. Yes, tedious but I only have a few...Do you have a name on yours?

idennis · #3 01-11-2012, 08:42 PM

here's a pic of my dendrobium, it had a spike growing from the top of the tip, but it looks as if it was removed, it has already flowered and the main plant that was in the same pot as this one has leaves that are starting to turn yellow too.

dendro by superidennis, on Flickr

orchid nut · #4 01-11-2012, 11:28 PM

It would be hard to call...'IF' this were 'My' plant and I did not know its species I would give it less water but not completely dry. Give it as much light as possible without burning...good luck and if you have a pic of the flower send it this way...it could help with ID
Jim

idennis · #5 01-12-2012, 10:18 AM

I bought it from lowes on Sunday, there were no blooms on it so I don't know what type of flowers it has, I only watered it on sun after repotting it. So it may just be shock that's causing yellowing of the leaves. In either case I'll go easy on watering, I have it placed on a sw window with sheer curtains so it doesn't burn.

jean2 · #6 01-13-2012, 01:54 AM

There are many reasons a dendrobium develops yellow leaves, and not all reasons are cause for concern. Knowing the type of dendrobium you have is essential to diagnosing the reason for the yellow leaves. Some types of dendrobium orchids are deciduous. The leaves will yellow as the plant pulls the nutrients out of them and then all the leaves on the cane fall off. While this seems traumatic, it is a natural process for these types of orchids in their cycle to rebloom.

If just one or two of the dendrobium leaves turns yellow and drops, it may just be the plant jettisoning the oldest leaves. This is a natural occurrence and is no reason for alarm. Yellow leaves can also be a sign of great stress. If your roots have rotted from being too wet or dessicated from being too dry, the leaves will turn yellow. Fungal, bacterial, or viral attacks can turn leaves yellow. Sunburn will turn the leaves yellow in blotches.