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Originally Posted by Linzysan
I have a miniature dendrobium nobile hybrid that is supposed to have a winter rest but I just got it and have been watering it regularly. It also has flowers on it. Is it too late to institute that rest?
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It isn't showing any signs of slowing down, so keep up the watering at the current rate as long as it has flowers. Once the flowers drop, you can cut back the watering somewhat, but unless you see leaves start to yellow, don't push it too hard. First, it's a hybrid, and very likely part of its ancestry doesn't slow down as much as Den. nobile does. Also, it may have had its seasons manipulated with light and temperature to get it to bloom now. (A blooming orchid is worth a lot more than a bare one...) Even the species Den. nobile does not go completely dormant in my experience. When I first started out in orchids I received the advice "no water between Halloween and Valentine's Day" ... and several died before I figured out that this was too severe. I suggest that temperature drop is probably at least as important in inspiring flowers as the dry period. So once it stops blooming, perhaps put it in a sun room or on a windowsill close enough to the glass to feel a chill at night. If it doesn't show signs of blooming in the spring but waits next year until summer or fall, then you know that it has ancestry that includes fall bloomers as well as Den nobile. After a year or so in your care, it will revert to a natural cycle (whatever that may be) no matter what manipulation it may have received this year.
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