The wide range of distribution explains why the plant is somewhat variable in its cultural requirements and why it can flower in less than ideal conditions.

I don't grow a lot of species orchids but among the five hundred or so plants that I have, there is probably fifty or so. I consider myself sometimes, to be an impulsive buyer but the one thing that I always make sure of is not to buy any plant that is a cool grower for obvious reasons. A few intermediates are ok but I try to stick with warm growers.

I believe that we want the things most that we know we can't have and that is why I would be very happy as the proud owner of Dendrobium cuthbertsonii. If I can ever figure out how to maintain high humidity, bright light and cool temperatures I will get one.

Ross, the wider and more diverse the distribution range of a plant, can cause that several ecotypes of the same species have different cultural needs. However, it can also be that a species is extremely plastic and can adapt to different conditions. I do not know neither the distribution of D. anosmun, nor the plant self (only by pictures), so I cannot tell exactly what would be the case here: genetic plasticity or just different "genetic pools"

but yes, to go to the point with your question, the wide distribution range can explain why there are so many different opinions as to resting this or other species.

How about a golden aya?
 

this is my first winter with my new dens, not sure which need rest and which dont.

How about a den. golden aya? does it need rest?
I also have a den. nobile and a den. red emperor 'prince' do they need rest a well?

Do I wait until the leaves fall, or do I just stop watering regardless of leaves being green. all new growths have matured and terminal leaves have formed.

Thanks!

Your Dendrobium Golden Aya, which is Dendrobium aphrodite x Dendrobium capillipes, needs reduced water and no fertilizer in the winter.

Your Dendrobium nobile and Dendrobium Red Emperor 'Prince' which is also a nobile, need a complete rest. You should have stopped fertilizer on these plants at the end of August and reduce water in October with no water after mid November. Night temperatures in the upper forties and fifties are necessary to induce flowering. At the end of the year you should start seeing buds.

Thank you!
That helps a lot.
I have one more question though. If they need upper 40's at night... should I put them outside? I have them on my kitchen window sill currently. And currently it is about 40 degrees overnight outside here in Maryland, US. The coldest I have the house at night is 62. but they are by the window, does that help?

Thanks again.

Singingirl, put a thermometer in your kitchen window and check the night temperature. Mid fifties would be fine.

Adding Cymbidium devonianum to my winter rest list.

Any thoughts on Neos? I saw that mentioned at the beginning...

What about Gramcybidium? I am thinking since it is crossed with Grammotophyllum it might not need much of a rest? The plant looks more cymbidiumish though..

Just thought I'd post that my Dendrobium anosmum on bark went totally ballistic and all leaves yellowed at same time. The one on tree fern has only shed 2 small leaves and remains green. So for those wondering about anosmum, keep that in mind. Both have entered the starvation mode.

Also adding the genus Anguloa, although I only have Anguloa eburnea. It was a bonus plant in a recent order, and I'm pretty sure that I don't have the right enviroment for it, so we'll see. It's pretty though.

I don't know about the intergeneric hybrids, it's all dependent on what the parents were, and how much influence the parent has. I only know of the one cymbidium that needs a dry rest, I don't think it's across all cymbidiums. In fact, the wording was something like "This species, unlike most other Cymbidiums, needs a semi rest..."

I have been told to water my Cattleya only once a week and once every two weeks in the winter (The grower even told me I could forget about her up to a month!!)

I have a den reimei. Does anyone know if they require winter rest? I received the plant last fall and last winter i didn't give it a winter rest because I didn't know if i needed to or not. It hasn't grown at all really since last fall except for some roots.

Hi :)

Your Den Reimei (the "R" should be a capital because this is not a species plant) has 52% Den nobile (which does need a winter rest) in it's parentage. I would give it a definite reduction in water and fertilizers until spring.

yes it is a capital R. Sorry i didn't know it made any difference. Honestly I just buy orchids from pictures of their blooms most of the time. Maybe me not giving it a rest is why it didn't grow over the past year then. Thanks so much for this info as i have googled my heart out to find information on that plant. I was starting to think that maybe that species didn't exist and my plant was mislabeled somehow.

Happy I could help :)

Just so you know...when an orchid is a species, the name of it is not capitalized. Many people (including vendors and tag manufacturers) make the mistake. It's not a big deal but that's what makes this place so great...the learning process ;)

Hold back on the water and fertilizers, give it a light misting every few weeks (especially if you see the canes starting the shrivel) and hopefully we'll all get to see your blooms next season :cheer:

I have one more dendrobium that i need to find out for. It says "Dendrobium Midnight (P)" on it's tag. All i know about it is that i got it at the local lowes for a few bucks after all of its flowers fell off. Tried doing a google search for it as well as i would think that it would be a popular one if they sell it at lowes, but couldn't find any results for just Dendrobium Midnight not crossed with anything else. Thanks again everyone.

With the parentage of this one, no winter rest is needed. Take care of it the same way year-round.

heres my list cb! dendrobium peguanum, parishii,noblie,
max. Schunkeana, paphieopedlium micranthum, mailopense, delantii,

mine that get a winter rest.
Den parshii.
Den unicum.
Den nobile
max Schunkeana

I give a rest to cattleyas (unless they have a growth) until they begin to show they are waking up. For the dendros I have only victoria reginae in sphagnum so i keep on watering it

Most of the orchids that I see listed on this thread sound like the really fancy ones and more exotic . Compared to the phalaenopsis which I only have in my collection . I don't think mine do have a rest period . If anyone can enlighten me on this , if they really do have one or when they do have one .

From what i know phalaenopsis don't need a winter rest...But if the temperature of the room gets a bit low better reduce a bit watering them...and of course when the plant doesn't grow in any way (roots, leaf, ...) no fertiliser and less water :) (but my advice is also due to the weather and condition from where i live)

I was told when I purchased the following they needed a winter rest.
Den williamsonii
Thunia Alba
Maxillaria hematoglossa

Maybe someone can tell me more if they need less frequent watering or a complete rest till the new growth starts.

So far none of mine need a rest, unless my recent purchase of Den aggregatum does, I've only had it a couple weeks so don't know its habits yet.

My catts are all making new leaves and looking robust (crossing fingers they all bloom this year) my dens and phals are all blooming. My paph is 'slowing' but not dormant yet. Thats 53 plants active and one den thats questionable here... but could be the goofy weather we've had down in S. FL this year. One day heaven, next day hot, next day freezing next day hot. It a wonder any plant knows what the heck to do this season down here

This is something that has always perplexed me. If anyone has the time or the inclination, I would appreciate it if they could take a look at the list in my profile and tell me which ones should get a winter rest. And BTW, what exactly is a winter rest? No water at all? A little water? Half as often? A quarter as often? Occasional misting only? Help de-mystify me on this.

EDIT: Never mind. Further reading has given me most of the info I think I need... maybe. ;) And I apologize if this was an inappropriate request, or posted in the wrong place.

I don't know if I'm doing the right thing, but I have 3 cyms resting at the moment. The idea is then to put them outside once the weather is more clement. Is that right? I'm playing it by ear, as they say. Other than that, as some of you say, phals don't seem to need rest.

I don't know what you mean by rest, but cyms don't need a winter rest. Since temps are lower, you just water less.
As for putting them outside, you should. Cyms need a fairly large day-night temperature differential to bloom, and they won't get that indoors. I'm near Lyon, and I bring mine outside after the "Saints de Glace" in May, and it stays outside until first frost (late september/mid october). I did have to bring it it in a few nights in august when the night temperature hovered around 1-3°C....

that's roughly what I do, bring them in from October to April roughly. Once any sign of frost has gone. As the weather is a bit peculiar this year - we even had snow here by the sea - I'm going to wait and see. Thanks for your ideas!

A mini SLC Ginny Champion "Prince"
Neostylis
Neofinetia falcata
Leptotes
BLC Hawaiian Leopard "Mei-Ling"
Brass Nodosa
Brass Subulifolia

Since my orchids are in the bedroom & I keep the house in the upper 60's during the day in winter, I've never really thought about giving a real winter rest. Humidity is low in the winter because the heater is always running. I still water everybody weekly, pretty much same as summer. I keep the timer on the lights the same, too. I may experiment with that next winter, though.

Orchids in my current collection requiring winter rest/dry periods:

1. Dendrobium atavus
2. Dendrobium harveyanum
3. Eulophia callichroma
4. Eulophia graminea

Maybe:

Dendrobium kingianum (???)

What orchids get a winter rest? Well...
 

In a nutshell, all my sympodials. They freak out if I don't give them a rest (my brassia and my dendrobium failed to bloom one year for that reason). I learned my lesson. :biggrin:

My monopodials aren't so particular about getting a rest. I can get away with giving them extra drinks during the winter. :evil:

Interesting thread. My comments are that any orchid that goes deciduous in the winter should not be watered. Catasetums are the prime example but any plant that starts loosing its leaves in october should be place in a "Low or no water" part of the greenhouse. Cymbidiums do have an exception - do not water canaliculatum or its hybrids in the winter. Stop in October (In Florida) and do not water till you see growth in the spring. Aggregatum is of special interest to me - I keep it outside with the cymbidiums (except the canaliculatums) and water it the same. It grows and blooms beautifully. I know several excellent growers that do the same. A lot of experts are only "Parots" that spread the same miss information they hear - so decidious - know true exceptions, and remember that any orchid does not need more water and fertilizer than it needs to "Grow" and prevent shriviling. Remember that more orchids are killed by overwatering than any other cause.

Huh?
 

I've had orchids for several years but still feel I'm definitely a newbie. I have a phalenopsis and a catellaya. What does winter rest actually mean? When you say you treat them differently, what do you exactly mean by that? Should I be giving my orchids a winter rest?

Thanks :)

Hi Pitcher,

From what I understand, phals do not need a winter rest. I'm pretty sure most catts don't either but someone else may correct me on that. Typically, "winter rest" means little to no water between the months of say, October thru March, depending on your growing area. This has always been a confusing topic for me, but after more research I think I'm starting to get a handle on it.
Hope this helps.

I think alot of people are forgetting the MOST important thing about deciduous and any other orchids, if you gradually increase the light, they adapt and they do need very bright light during the winter. My Dendrobium anosmum, aphyllum, parishii, nobile red emperor prince, hercoglossum, eidendrum hybrids and species, encyclia tampensis, cattleya walkeriana, phalaenopsis species, and even brassavola nodosa can all get nearly totall dry and do with just a misting occasionally. I let even the phal schilleriana and equestris dry out and cool off in winter and they bloomed but they also got pretty direct sunlight at the time which was short of leafburn and that helped them flower well also. The den nobile and anosmum were left outside and got direct sun and alot of rain this past winter of 2008 and they still flowered, but they also had direct sun all day from morning until night even in summer and they all grew until december or later. They did bloom and even though I think it was only a few buds near the top of the canes, they still flowered with constant winter rain and days at or above 70F and nights down to 36F. My phal species took the 38F mark and dried out and lost a few of their bottom leaves, but they kept at least 3 leaves and took direct sun during the day. They all did fine and came back to grow stronger this spring.

Can someone explain to me what is a decidious orchid? I asked this once before, and got no answer, but I thought decidious was when the leaves fell off in winter, and none of my orchids have leaves which fall off! So please explain. As they say, I could then go to bed tonight a little more intelligent!:lol:

Yes deciduous is when the leaves fall off in the winter. Deciduous orchids aren't as numerous as persistant/evergreen orchids, and I think many are Dendrobium species. The only commonly available deciduous orchid is the nobile Dens. I didn't get a deciduous orchid until last fall!

Thanks for that. I appreciate the info on the decidious orchids. I didn't realise that orchids could lose their leaves! perhaps there are other that do the same thing?

You also have all orchids in the Catasetinae group or some Lycaste, which are deciduous.

In this Link, you can see a Catasetum without leave and in bloom Catasetum pileatum var. aureum (a bit darker than 'Oro Verde') on Flickr - Photo Sharing! and in this another plant of the same species with leave (and also in bloom) Catasetum pileatum var. aureum 'Oro Verde' on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

If you google Lycaste aromatica, you will mainly find plants without leave and in bloom (for some funny reason, it is almost impossible to get a pciture in google of this species with leave and no bloom! :D)

Pleiones for instance. Really easy to obtain and grow if you have a cool glasshouse or somewhere cold and bright to overwinter them. Basically once they've shed their leaves, you can forget about them untill the spring arrives Virtually no maintanance orchid when resting (about nov-mar)! :)