Dendrobium Nobile out of season

[katlyn]

Hello I hope someone can help. I’ve been given a Dendrobium Nobile as a present (I’m afraid I can’t be more specific) and have been researching how to care for it. I’ve found lots of information which is very clear and helpful about the seasonal cycles and required variation in temperature, water and feeding.

My problem is that the plant is in full flower now (end of September) which seems to be out of sync with the seasons as I understand them from my research online. So now I don’t know what to do?! Should I treat it as if it’s end of winter, beginning of the year and therefore in its flowering period (the problem being this will be followed by winter!) or do I treat it cool and give it very little water and no food as if it’s in it’s cooling off period (which it should now be entering I think)?

Very confused. I’m guessing this may be the problem with plants that have been forced to flower out of season! I would love to keep it going for years just not sure where to start so any help is very much appreciated.

[rbarata]

After blooming it normally starts to show new growths. If that happens (which I think it won't) treat it as if it's spring. If the temps get lower, even if it shows new growths, water it the same but not as much as if it was warmer.
If the new growths stop growing, reduce water and give it a cool rest.

[Puja]

I second the post above. I have more or less the same situation on my hands (den. nobile in full bloom, which I received at the end of August). It dropped its blooms within a few weeks, and I was watching for its growing cane, about 5 inches long, to stop growing. Then we had a few days of hot weather and it suddenly developed 3 new growths. They are currently growing rapidly (an inch a week) so until they stop I will be treating the plant as if it is spring.
Frankly, you're going to have to cut short its seasonal cycle at some point as it will continue to be off-beat. It's not like in nature every year is the same, so the plant will likely adjust accordingly. The only problem with bad timing might be that you lose a season of growth, or a season of buds/flowering.