How to Grow Dendrobium nobile? A Detailed Guide to Growing Plants of the Tribe Dendrobieae

Dendrobium nobile, also known as Wanzhangxu, Jinchaishi, Bianjinchai, Bianhuangcao, Biancao and so on, is a perennial herbaceous plant and a species of Dendrobium. The environment in which Dendrobium nobile grows is extremely harsh; perhaps the harsher the trial, the purer the mastery it develops.Therefore, Dendrobium nobile grown from rocks has extremely high medicinal value and is praised among the people as “the first of China's nine great immortal herbs”, “gold among medicines” and other laudatory names.How is Dendrobium nobile grown? What is the growing method? What efficacies and effects does it have?

I. How is Dendrobium nobile grown? What is the growing method?

1. Container: choose a flower pot with a slightly larger mouth and holes at the bottom or around the sides, requiring good air permeability and good drainage.

2. Substrate: use coarser large stones or bricks as the bottom layer to facilitate drainage and air permeability; use smaller stones or broken bricks for the middle layer, choosing materials with good water absorption as much as possible, such as expanded clay pellets, orchid stone, broken bricks; use fermented pine bark for the top layer.

3. Planting: when planting Dendrobium, take care not to bury the stem of the seedling into the substrate as much as possible; it is enough for the substrate to cover most of the roots, and after planting water thoroughly.

4. Fertilizing: evenly scatter orchid-specific slow-release fertilizer around the roots of the Dendrobium, then cover with a small amount of bark, and water once more.

5. After planting is completed, place the potted Dendrobium in a well-ventilated, semi-shaded environment, such as a windowsill with good light, a balcony without direct sunlight, or inside a shade shed.

Note: when the environment for potted Dendrobium is an open environment, the Dendrobium should always be placed below large-leaved plants on the balcony; the large-leaved plants block excessive light for the Dendrobium. The grower usually only waters, has never applied pesticide, and the fertilizer is the slow-release fertilizer added at planting time, with some additional Multicote fertilizer added later. In rainy weather the new shoots of the Dendrobium grow rapidly; on sunny days with high temperature and low humidity, the new shoots of the Dendrobium grow slowly. Routine management is simply watering several times a day on sunny days.

II. The efficacies and effects of Dendrobium nobile

1. Anti-aging, boosting immunity

Dendrobium nobile can significantly raise the level of superoxide dismutase (SOD), lower lipid peroxide (LPO), regulate the level of monoamine neurotransmitters in the brain, and inhibit monoamine oxidase-like (MAO) activity, thereby playing a role in delaying aging. The Dendrobium polysaccharides that have attracted much attention in recent years also have significant immune-enhancing activity and multiple effects such as anti-aging and anti-radiation. The Chinese patent medicines and health products already developed are deeply favored by people, such as Tiepi Fengdou Jing, Dendrobium San, Qingyan Ning, Yichang Tang, Dendrobium Lu, Dendrobium Jing, Yangyin Koufuye and Dendrobium Pian, etc. The “Fengdou” or “earring Dendrobium” processed from Dendrobium officinale is called “golden earrings” and “golden Fengdou”, and sells well in Southeast Asia as well as Europe and America.

2. Invigorating blood and resolving stasis, improving cardiovascular and cerebrovascular function

Dendrobium nobile contains ester compounds and has effects such as invigorating blood and resolving stasis, dilating blood vessels and resisting platelet aggregation, and treating thromboangiitis obliterans, cerebral thrombosis, arteriosclerotic occlusion and so on. Mailuoning injection, extracted and processed from medicinal materials such as Dendrobium and honeysuckle, has functions such as clearing heat and nourishing yin, and invigorating blood and resolving stasis.

3. Anti-tumor

The phenanthrenes and bibenzyls extracted from Dendrobium nobile have effects against lung cancer, ovarian adenocarcinoma and promyelocytic leukemia. They can promote T cell growth and the production of inhibitory factors by lymphocytes, playing an immune-enhancing role. The ethyl acetate extract of Dendrobium nobile has significant cytotoxic effects on human lung cancer cells, human ovarian adenocarcinoma cells and human promyelocytic leukemia. It has an especially strong inhibitory effect on lung cancer cells, with an inhibition rate as high as 74.7%-97.2%.

4. Treating digestive system diseases

Dendrobium nobile has an excitatory effect on the intestinal tract and can increase the contraction amplitude. Pharmacological tests show that oral Dendrobium decoction can promote gastric juice secretion and aid digestion. Dendrobine has an effect similar to that of physostigmine but weaker, and Dendrobium extract can stimulate the contraction of small intestinal smooth muscle and promote gastrointestinal peristalsis. Dendrobium has a unique and satisfactory effect on chronic atrophic gastritis.

5. Treating eye diseases

Dendrobium has a clear therapeutic effect on eye diseases. It not only inhibits galactose-induced cataract but also has a certain therapeutic effect, with a lens preservation rate of 36.8%. In treating cataract, it has an inhibitory and corrective effect on abnormal changes in enzyme activity caused by galactose, and can also prevent or correct the imbalance in the ratio of total lipids to total cholesterol in the lens caused by galactose-induced cataract.