HAWAI'I LIFEIt’s Honohono Orchid Season
I anxiously await the first blossoms of my favorite orchid, the Honohono. It is one of the most fragrant of orchids and actually quite easy to grow.
The smell sends me back to my childhood. My mother used rice rinse water to feed her plants. She said it was the talc in the water that made them grow well. The honohono name, in Hawaiian, refers to the alternate growing leaf pattern, however, it is the fragrance of the flower that everyone remembers.
It’s scientific name, dendrobium anosmum, is odd since anosmum means scentless in Latin. They got that one wrong. The long, thin spikes can grow up to 4-5 feet. The flower’s color ranges from lavender, light pink to white. Some think that their plant is dying when it drops all its leaves, but that is how the bloom cycle begins.
The blooming season is from March to May so you get lots of time to experience the Honohono. Water and fertilize them heavily in the summer and not so much during the winter.
This is just one of the many reasons I enjoy living the Hawaii Life.
Oh my,,,my Honohono orchids are ready to bloom now too,,and I feel so blessed to be here amoung them
Mine we’re early. I hate to see them fade. My fav too!
Where is the best place to put my honohono orchids that I recently got? What kind of fertilizer do you recommend?
Is it starting to bud yet? It should be in it’s bloom cycle so you don’t water too much and you don’t fertilize. I’m not an expert but that is what I got out of the articles that I’ve read, now is the time to shock it to produce lots of blooms.
How do you plant honohono? My friend gave me 6 tiny plants in a small planter. I may need to buy hapu fibers and mix it in with the soil???
My honohono is bursting with blossoms. Just amazing!
I’m envious. I have no blooms this year.
@Linaka – I have mine in a hanging pot, with large vermiculite pebbles. My mother planted them in hollowed out coconuts with hapu. Anything that will not keep too much water in the planter.
I have had this plant many years ago and I would like to know where I can buy them from and how much they are?? Can you help me with this?? Please let me know