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Species library › Dendrobium › Dendrobium bellatulum
Orchids Well documented

Dendrobium bellatulum

Enchanting dendrobium

Dendrobium bellatulum is a dwarf epiphytic orchid from the monsoon highlands of the eastern Himalaya and northern and southern Indochina. Most records are from about 1,200–2,000 m, many around Da Lat in southern Vietnam and Doi Suthep in northern Thailand. It grows through a hot, wet summer and then a bright, dry, cool winter. Growers who give it that winter dry spell and strong light have the best success.

Dendrobium bellatulum
Photo: M. S. del. ( = Matilda Smith, 1854-1926), J. N. Fitch lith. ( = John Nugent Fitch, 1840–1927) Description by William Botting Hemsley (1843–1924), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day IntermediateTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows on trees (epiphyte)

Where it grows wild

An epiphyte in seasonally dry montane forest. Most records come from the Lam Dong plateau (Bidoup–Nui Ba, Lang Biang, Da Nhim), Chiang Mai, Laos, Yunnan and northeast India. These are open pine, oak and evergreen hill forests, where trunk and branch epiphytes get strong light, especially once the dry season thins the canopy. The sources we could open give no host or microhabitat detail, so this is inferred from the record localities.

GBIF specimen elevations run from about 650 m to 2,100 m, with a median near 1,500 m. One 4,500 m record is almost certainly a data error.

China South-CentralAssamEast HimalayaMyanmarThailandLaosVietnam

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its Public domain licence, unmodified.