Here is the secret for Dendrobium nobile and it's hybrids. Get out your paper and pencils everyone.
They Do Not like heat. For those of you growing them in places like Florida, keep them as cool as you can. Air movement with fans is a great idea!!!! Clay pots work a hundred times better then plastic. Why? Clay breathes helping to cool the roots. They like 78-83 during the day, and at night as cool as you can 45-50 degrees won't bother them in the least.
Now then look at their pseudobulbs and their leaves, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!!!! Notice how the pseudobulbs are slightly flattened. Notice how the leaves are all the same length. THE LAST LEAF CALLED THE TERMINAL LEAF is less than half the size of the other leaves.
When that leaf appears, then you know that the growth is MATURE! This is when you cut back on your watering, DRASTICALLY CUT BACK. Keep the air movement up but water it like one half as often as you normally would. THIS CUTTING BACK ON YOUR WATER AFTER THE TERMINAL LEAF HAS FORMED IS WHAT TRIGGERS BUDS TO FORM!! They appear as little rounded pimples or bumps along the length of the pseudobulbs. When these have started to get a bit bigger after a week or so, RESUME NORMAL WATERING!
Now nobiles are another type of orchid that likes fertilizer and you can feed them either at full strength or more often when they are actively growing. The better you are with the air movement, the coolness, the fertilizer, the more buds that you will see.
And yes they bloom again and again from the older canes and the new ones. Typically for three to five years!!
I can recall ever sharing this before. I guess we done grow any?! But this comes from a great nobile grower in Fort Myers Florida of all places!
This is exactly why you can't grow all Dendrobiums the same. Phalaenopsis type takes different conditions then nobiles! And if you miss time the terminal leaf hint, they might never bloom!
