Dendrobium cuthbertsonii
A tiny high-mountain Dendrobium from New Guinea, only 1–2 cm tall, whose red, orange, pink or yellow flowers can last up to nine months. It lives in cold, constantly wet, misty montane and subalpine forest and dies quickly when kept warm or allowed to dry out. Growers need cool nights, near-constant moisture and good air movement all year.
Where it grows wild
An epiphyte on moss-covered branches and trunks in montane cloud forest and subalpine scrub, where cushions of moss keep its fine roots permanently damp. Cloud and drizzle are almost daily, and air movement is steady. Plants form small clumps of warty, dark leaves only a few centimetres across.
GBIF records span 1650–4000 m (median 2200 m, 13 records with elevation); Wikipedia gives up to about 3000 m. This is a cool to cold grower at every site.
🔒 Growing it like that
The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:
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