Growing or Dormant? (Watering question)

[autumnmoon]

I recently ordered the MMM Witchcraft orchid from Seattle Orchids prior to their big move.

It was shipped in bud with flowers that are already opening up on it... However, it's also developing yellowing leaves like it's prepping for dormancy. (These showed up literally overnight.) We are getting some slightly cooler temperatures in autumn, and my bedroom (where it lives) is slightly more affected by this than the rest of the house (my bedroom is above the garage, which is not fully insulated), so it has been probably in the low 60's (F) at coolest in my room. (It won't really go cooler than that because when it cools that much in the rest of the house, the heat gets flipped on.)

I knew reading up on this orchid before I got it that it would go into dormancy at some point but... with blooms on it?

How should I water it? Do I continue to watering like it's in "growth" season because of the blooms, or like it's shifting into dormancy? Should I cut of water entirely? Just slow it down?

tl;dr: I think my orchid's confused by the weather, and I'm confused too.

[Roberta]

Actually, this is the normal bloom time for this orchid - just as it is getting ready to go dormant. (I have a bunch of Catasetinae that are doing just that) I would suggest watering lightly - the medium can still be moist, but let it somewhat dry out before watering again. As the leaves drop, cut back more on the water. Even if in bloom. That's it's natural pattern. Others who grow this type of plant will also share their experience. For my growing, I pretty much stop watering by around December if the plant is leafless. Some go dormant more slowly, and I might keep a little water going to the end of December or into January but then stop. But you can certainly cut 'way back on fertilizing, or completely stop it.

[fishmom]

Roberta has it right. It's normal behavior, slow down the watering, cut off the fertilizer, and enjoy the show!

[autumnmoon]

That's good to hear. I kept on reading about "growing phase" and "dormancy phase" but I didn't realize that blooming was concurrent with dormancy. I knew that a lot of people experienced the leaf drop around mid-November, so that makes sense.

Thank you so much!

[Roberta]

Actually, blooming can happen any time in the cycle. I have Clowesia Rebecca Northen that blooms somewhere around February - on completely leafless pseudobulbs that haven't had any water for several menths. At that point I will moisten the medium a little, but otherwise, wait for the new growth to get well developed like all the others. A few others may bloom when the leaves are growing like a tomato plant, and may even have a second bloom later. So blooming in this group is all over the map. Go by what the plant is doing (growing like a weed in the spring, starting to drop leaves in the fall) and just enjoy the flowers whenever they decide to appear (but don't change culture because of them)