Bloom Event - Dendrochilum abbreviatum

According to the oracle that is this blog, I have been in possession of this plant for almost exactly one year, at the time of writing (January 2017). Also according to my records, this plant bloomed at the end of April last year, so it is significantly earlier this time around. Not that I made a not of such inconsequential details such as spike count last year in my initial post for some reason, but according to later photos there appear to have been five flower spikes which I recall being very impressed with indeed. This year, it has done better than that with seven spikes of flowers, which means we must have more lead growths.

I'm not sure I have much extra to add on this species this year. It is not one to be rushed; it does only seem to put out one set of growths per year  no matter what you do, although a bit of heat seems to bring it on quicker.

It has stayed nice and clean with no bug or fungal attacks and seems quite happy with its life. Once again, you might notice I've been rather premature with the photography and there aren't many flowers open as yet, but you get the general idea. I love how the spikes arch under the foliage, and a larger plant will put on quite a show. You might also notice that I have repotted this. It was really pressing against the edges of the last pot it was in so I thought it was probably time to give it a bit more space. It is really too early to tell whether it'll notice the change or not, but to be honest I doubt it.

Not the easiest to photograph due to the small downward facing flowers, but I'm not sure that admiration of individual flowers is really the point of this species. What we are after here is overall effect, so the more flower spikes the better. A point in favour of this species, especially in light of posts earlier on today is that although quite large for a Dendrochilum, this is a nice sized species for growing on a window sill. It is even quite attractive when not in bloom. My plant just lives among the others in the growroom but I don't see why it wouldn't make an attractive stand alone plant. I guess it appreciates a bit more humidity than your average houseplant, but Dendrochilum as a whole seem rather less fussy than many orchids on this.

There would have been a time when I would have been very tempted to divide this plant up into smaller pieces as there are quite a few growing points, but I'm pleased to say that that impulse has passed. Most Dendrochilum species are much better when allowed to grow on to a decent size and there really should be a jolly good reason for dividing them, especially if they are healthy.