Need Help with my new*Dendrobium Wave King Akebono

[Roberta]

Early in my "orchid career" I was given the advice for the Den nobile hybrids to give no water from Halloween to Valentine's Day. Following that advice, I killed several before I figured out that was a bad idea. Your instincts are far better than mine were! In nature they may not get rain in the winter, but they get high humidity and dew... neither of which happens in a house with the heater blasting, or my climate with sometimes hot days and very low humidity. So they do need that light watering. (You can increase the watering, and start fertilizing, once you see new growth but even then, keep the fertilizer very light or you're likely to grow keikis instead of flowers). Also note that these bloom on the older canes with or without leaves, often for several years on the same canes. So don't cut old canes until they are totally shriveled and brown and indisputably dead.