dendrobium cuthbertsonii wilting/dropping blooms
 

I have a dendrobium cuthbertsonii 'pink giant' x 'bicolor'. For about 6-8 months now. It's a gorgeous little plant. (it was gorgeous when it came, thanks to Hausermann's) I planted it in a dendrobium "specific" potting mix (repotme) and in an air-cone pot. (Rand) Here in SW Michigan I had it under lights and with humidity growing at the windowsill. It put out new growths. Just lovely. When the weather warmed up, I moved it outside (kinda E facing porch), and honestly I thought it was doing even better! It developed a flower bud. Which wilted off in a few weeks (back in June). Since then it's put out 2 more flower buds - which you can see in the photos. However: One bud has wilted in the last 2 days, while the other one is still there. Also, in the last couple weeks, some of the leaves are turning this orange color. So I'm looking for some insight. I'm wondering if I left it out it temps that were too high (we've had 90's here off and on, more on than off these days). Watering: has been rain, and occasionally my own watering. Fertelizing: oh I'm very lazy in the summer. Outside, everything grows like gangbusters. Inside, I feed weakly weekly. Is the leaf dropping a normal variation? And what about those darn blooms? Help!

I've never grown it, but I took lecture notes when Alan Koch spoke to our society. Use Search in the top maroon menu on terms Koch cuthbertsonii Desert Valley. I seem to recall heavy watering with very pure water is important.

this is the paragraph I ferreted out (& will read the rest of the very interesting notes later):

"Dendrobium cuthbertsonii in habitat in New Guinea sees temperatures never over 75 F / 24C and gets 250" / 635cm of rain per year. His plants in Sacramento, California tolerate occasional days of 110 F / 43C. He has bred tetraploids for temperature tolerance. He deflasks in July in 100 F / 38C days to weed out the weaker plants. He gets 90% survival. His method is growing them in New Zealand sphagnum moss, using extremely pure water, and keeping them very moist. His plants flower 18 months out of flask. He showed several different color forms."

Regarding temps: Based on the above, I'd like to think my plant can withstand the random 90 degree days we've had.

Regarding water: outside it's definitely been "pure" - as it's been mostly rain. But I can certainly see that the plant has probably dried out much more than it should.

For now - I'm going to go with that. And see what happens.
Thanks a million!