Dendrobium Nobile seedling Winter care?

[Diane56Victor]

I have some Nobile seedlings, none are over 5 or 6 inches tall.
I know that mature Nobile should stop getting fertilizer and get limited water over the Winter period, also have a cooler time to make the plant bloom.
This wouldn't apply to seedlings would it?
I've listed some relevant facts about my seedlings.
These seedlings are doing all kinds of things, some have new growths, others have leaves going yellow, some even have both things going on.
Root growth on all is excellent.
Some are in bark and some in some commercial sponge type material.
They were purchased from a warmer area of Australia and as we were heading towards Autumn when I bought them I decided to keep them indoors, possibly repot in the Spring as they are in extremely tiny pots.
They are in a West facing window and the temperature in the room (no heating) at 7am this morning was 15C (59f)
We are currently in the middle of Autumn here in South Australia.
We CAN get lowest outside night time Winter temps of 5C (41f) and daytime high of 10C(50f) although generally it is a bit warmer. With the strange weather pattern this past year, who knows what this Winter could be.

[Roberta]

I learned from hard experience that the advice to not water nobile-type Dendrobiums can kill... in nature they get little rain in winter, but humidity is high and they get heavy dew most days. That is really different from what they will get in a dry house (made drier by winter heating) or outside in dry climates. So advice from here is to stop fertilizing, and maybe reduce watering frequency a little, but go gently. A chill, on the other hand, will facilitate blooming. If they came from a warmer area, they're not acclimated to cold, so your unheated room may be all they need. And the other factor would be to give them lots of light - that is the other thing that happens in nature when there isn't rain, there also isn't cloud cover so it's brighter than in summer.

In the spring, you can put them outside, and then by NEXT autumn they will be acclimated to the temperatures that nature throws at them, and those outdoor winter temperatures won't be a problem, even down to light frost,

Based on my own experience, growing nobile-type and other deciduous and semi-deciduous Dendrobiums outside, I have found that the winter chill (down to around 4 deg C/40 deg F or even a little less) does no harm, and they bloom reliably so it must be the cold, not dryness, that is the trigger. They get watered with the general population, rain when it happens and sprinklers the rest of the time. This tracks with what I have learned observing the shadehouse environment at Andy's Orchids, a major species grower in southern California - the Dendrobiums are mixed in with everything else based on temperature and light needs. With around 700,000 plants, nobody moves the Dens to a "dry" location. (No way to give individual attention )They get watered with everything else, go down to ambient temperatures (the same as mine) in winter, and bloom just fine.

[estación seca]

Since seedlings probably won't flower yet I might keep them in growth by continuing water and fertilizer year round. Later when they're big enough to flower you can discipline them.

[Diane56Victor]

Thanks Roberta.
Their last fert was about a month ago and it was a negligible amount as I've been reducing the fert and water amounts since getting them in late summer.
I have been giving tiny amounts of water since then, and mainly for those in the commercial sponge type media as that dries very quickly. If the pot feels really light it gets a tiny amount of water.
As you suggested I will keep them inside this winter, I'm not really bothered about blooms at this stage, I would rather they grew on a bit more, I can worry about blooms later, just need size and strength now.
As you said next Spring out they go. They will be under the verandah.

Thanks es.
Your comment put some ideas into my head. I do have a couple of double ups so I might try normal fert and water on some and and keep the others drier with no ferts and see how they go.

[Roberta]

If you see any shriveling, increase the water. I would actually be reluctant to reduce the water much at all... maybe a little less often but if they're growing, they need more than teensy bits of water.

[Diane56Victor]

Originally Posted by Roberta

If you see any shriveling, increase the water.

Ok no worries. I checked my orchid list and I have 3 of S/c Den Fancy Moon 'Eve' so I will try the very little water on just one of them and see how it fares, but if I notice any shriveling I will increase the water.

[FranningtonBear]

That sounds very sensible.

I grow my Den Nobile types indoors (since the UK climate is not particularly orchid-friendly). I reduce water from early Nov - until I see signs of new growth but I don't allow them to become completely dry. I try to replicate morning dew using a fairly heavy handed misting technique every few days which is very effective for me, under my conditions.

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[Diane56Victor]

My plans to trial between normal water and fert and restricted water and no ferts to keep them growing through winter will probably not go ahead.
When I pulled the three S/c Den Fancy Moon 'Eve' out there two very nice plants with fat canes, the third one doesn't have the fat canes but has three keikis.
My dilemma is I dont want to risk either really good plant and due to the other being in a totally different stage my little experiment would be worthless.
So I'm going to just water and fert through the winter, but I'm going carefully with it.
Hopefully I can report in Spring with good results.

I would like to thank you all for your thoughts and ideas, very much appreciated.