Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just bought one of those orchids frome lowes and would like to separate it into several smaller plants. How woul dI go about doing this I cant find and websites about this

What specie it this? I would advise not to as newer growth will rely on older growths. If you are interested in miniature orchid specie, take a look at the Frognet classifieds.

Jon Werner

it is Dendrobium Sakura and its about 12" tall

Hi,
Pseudubulbous(sympodial) type orchids like cattleyas, dendrobiums etc. identified by their new growth starting from the bottom of the previous growth and growing along the surface of the potting mix need a minimum of 3-5 growths and a live bud to ensure that that division will live. So if you are going to divide you need 6 growths and 2 live buds to successfully get 2 plants. Monopodial type orchids like paphiopedilum, vanda etc. that grow up in one direction can be divided when there are good(2-3 and a few inches long) roots on the second nearly mature growth.
Pleurothallid types like pleurothallis, masdevallia, restrepia, zootrophia, etc. are considered sympodial so I would go with the reccomendation above. Be careful not to make too many divisions out of a bigger plant as the older back growths may not have good roots or viable growths and will just die off. Keeping extra back growths on a division will only help.
Try going to the web site of the American Orchid Society, they should have something on dividing and repotting.

Tim