How large do dentrobiums get, the standard size ones? I only have that one NOID, and the canes are about 4' tall now. I have to wire them to their hanger-wires to keep them erect. Is this the max? The plant is getting awfully heavy!

Thinking of hard or soft cane Dendrobiums?
Nobile types - I have the white nobile which I just posted, I don't stake that at all. But, I find that those first grow straight up and then have a very good chance to kink/break as they get too heavy. So what I do, I attach a little weight to the tip of the canes, then they will gently dip down without the break when they reach that stage. ( Btw mine is growing without pot, I just attached that first piece to a piece of tree fern) Dendrobium anosmum is grown many times similarly since the canes can get really long and then there is Ricardo who mounted them upside down.
http://ricardogupi.blogspot.co...

Here he talks about the in a soda bottle upside-down culture.
http://ricardogupi.blogspot.co...

You have to dig around a bit on his site, there is a huge amount of information in those pages, including comments.

I can't answer your question precisely, but I have seen some monster plants with really long canes.

I only have the one dendrobium, and that was a "dead" plant given to me perhaps 6-8 years ago by one of my patients. It is a NOID. This plant has been in a sphagnum moss lined, 14" diameter wire basket for at least 5 years. Whatever Douglas fir bark mix that it was potted in is probably long gone. The sphagnum moss is still there though.

I did not know there were hard and soft cane den. I will have to research this some and learn more about them.

I guess I will just leave the plant as-is, and keep supporting the tall canes with plastic-coated wire, tied to its wire hanger. This plant was in constant bloom for almost six months last spring-summer. It just kept putting out stems. It is blooming earlier this year for some reason.

Can't argue with success!

My Den. spectabile, which just took the blue ribbon at the recent orchid show here, is a hard cane type and needs to be tied or staked when in bloom. Those canes will snap in a heartbeat, especially if you load them in a car to drag to a show. I like to grow them in hanging plastic baskets and I tie the canes to the basket hanging wires. In fact, it is back in the truck as it will be a display orchid at the Tampa Bay Orchid Society show and sale this weekend. Are you coming up, Elaine?

And yes, they get huge. 3 to 4 foot canes are not unusual. I have 4 or 5 like that and I hang them all in the plastic baskets from the roof of the OC. They like lots of light.

Jim

Ken, Researching Dens is frustrating, to say the least. I've found this site very helpful for figuring out what type you have and how to care for them. It's a large family with plants that range from minis to monsters and even the growers seldom tell you which type you're buying. http://staugorchidsociety.org/...

Thanks for the link, Carol.

Yes, the Dens are a puzzle, Ken. I have no idea how big most of mine will get, except of course the start Jim gave me of his big Nobile will be huge some day, if I can keep it alive.

Hmm, I may have to make the trip up to the show in Tampa. Although I really blew the budget at the Venice show buying Frances Fox, my birthday is coming up . . . uh, oh, DH already bought me a GoPro camera for the regatta week before last, so he may be off the hook.

Good link Carol! I added it to the sticky great info thread on top of the forum.

It was given to me when I was asking questions, and I'm just passing it on. I hope the person that gave it to me doesn't mind.