Dendrobium Orchids, Or Why I Want Chocolate Chips

My dendrobium orchid.

Part of the fun of being an orchid fanatic is discovering just how many kinds of orchids there are. With some 38,000 species in the orchid family, I’ll keep being delighted with types that are new to me—and I’ll inevitably take some of them home with me. 

The Massachusetts Orchid Society show I attended in 2021 blew my mind. Think of the best museum exhibit you’ve ever seen, but imagine you can buy (if you have the money) any of the exhibits in front of you. The hours I spent wandering around the exhibition hall staring at profusely flowering and often bizarre-looking blooms were some of the best hours I spent during the height of the pandemic. And of course, I bought three orchids. Two of them are still alive (I’ll write a future blog post about the one that didn’t make it. RIP, friend). My favorite is the chocolate chip dendrobium. 

The dendrobium genus contains about 2,000 different species. While originally from southeast Asia, these orchids are found in a wider range of climates than many other orchids. In general, they prefer temperatures between 60-85 degrees F, and like other orchids, colder nighttime weather induces blooms. I think mine is blooming because it’s winter and colder at night, and because I haven’t been watering as frequently, which allows it to rest. Mine blooms once a year, while other dendrobrium species can rebloom up to five times in a year. 

Dendrobium christyanum.

Like most other orchids, dendrobiums are epiphytes and grow on trees and other large plants. Their appearance can vary quite a bit—some, like mine, bloom only at the stop of their stems, while others bloom on the entire stem. Some species of dendrobium orchids even lose their leaves in the fall like most of the trees here in Boston. 

Dendrobium orchids like smaller pots and don’t mind being root bound (I’ve yet to repot mine). Like phalaenopsis orchids, dendrobriums don’t like being planted in soil because it’s too dense, so they prefer orchid bark and the lighter, airier mediums that other epiphytic orchids grow in. They like similar lighting as other orchids—bright, indirect light and not too much direct sun (mine’s in an east-facing window). They enjoy humidity, and like other orchids, prefer a thorough watering and draining.

Dendrobium canes.

The chocolate chip dendrobium is a miniature hybrid of two different dendrobium species and gets its name from the spots on the back of the flower. It has “canes,” which look like the pseudo-bulbs on my cattleya orchid but are farther away from the base of the plant, and it reblooms from these existing canes. This is (thus far) one of my easiest orchids, so I highly recommend keeping your eyes peeled for them. 

My chocolate chip dendrodium.