Usually they drop off prior to blooming. I have a couple who haven't tossed all of their leaves yet and are getting some spikes right now. By the time they are in full bloom the leaves will be gone.

Did you dry them out this fall/winter?

Brooke

I give mine a cool period of a month at 55 degrees or below but don't cut back much on watering them. I don't lose many leaves and still get blooms. That said a leafless cane may produce flowers if it hasn't already done so before.

For me in Florida when I get a new mature cane it comes with leaves no flowers. A year later it looses its leaves and blooms. I reduce water and eliminate fertilizer end of Sept. on mature plants let the juvenile plants have feed and water.
Late January now and there are a lot of buds. That is my Dendrobium nobile cycle here in Florida.

Bob: How do you provide temps of 55 degrees? I could do 60 degrees in our basement at night but it would mean transporting it back upstairs to get enough light during the day. Our nighttime temps here in our house are around 65 degrees.

Many of them don't need lower temps. The most important thing to get blooms is very bright light in winter and to remain relatively dry.

Mine never go below 60 degrees.

Brooke

Andrea, I'm able to get a cool temp. in the fall as the weather gets colder. I've done it two ways. The year before last I had them outside until it got to around 45 degrees. This year they stayed in the greenhouse all year and I start running my heater slowly to save money. In Sept I set the temp at 45 put most likely it never gets the cold. Then in Oct I put it at 50 degrees. Nov gets 55 degrees and when Dec. hits we put 60 at night and 68 during the day. Remember in a greenhouse just because I set a temp. at 50 degrees that means it's a min. but the sun may bring the temp up to 85 degrees. In my reading I think these nobile need at least a 58 to 55 degree temp for at least 2 to 3 hours per day for a months time. Just leaving them outside late into the fall usually meets those requirements. Even if you had to move it inside to a enclosed porch if you don't want to get it too cold. I find them easy to rebloom, and yes there are a few that don't even require a cool period to bloom. I also don't give them fertilizer from Sept until after they bloom. August might be an even better time to stop giving them fertilizer. Look up Yamamoto orchids in Hawaii for more instructions.

The modern hybrids tend to flower on the newest pseudobulb rather than on the pseudobulb made two seasons ago. So that might be muddying the waters here.

No good talking about Yamamoto orchids because they have been hybridising for ages and I have one of their older hybrids which has just about matured the newest pseudobulbs and will flower in spring from the two pseudobulbs which matured summer 2014. I am talking about Den. Yukidaruma 'King'.

They are a beginner's orchid here and are a feature of the spring orchid shows.
Temps Winter night 40-50F
Winter Day 60-70F
So, maybe you might be able to get those night temps near a window in a centrally heated house.
I do not know, just guessing, high light orchids that need Cattleya light.
I also believe that some of the modern hybrids flower with less of temperature drop in winter. More muddying.
It is easy to be lead astray with pics like this, where a lot of TLC is needed re staking etc. to get this result.
{{gwi:2118503}}

Thanks for all this information! I've got the den in the brightest light in the sunroom and will keep it dry-ish. Maybe water it every 3 weeks? I appreciate all the input.

I don't want to hijack your thread, but I hope ArthurM will ck out mine titled yukidaruma 'king'. I'm excited because I think I might have this plant. Gifted to me earlier this past Fall. Haven't been able to find any info on it. The word yukidaruma was all but obliterated, leaving only 'king'. I'll take a pic and post later.

Vitandrea did your plant have yellow blooms like Arthur's photo? That is an awesome plant.

If what I'm seeing on my plant are in fact buds, then there are only a couple on each stalk. That's OK. I'll at least have an idea what I'm growing.

Glad I decided to read your thread.

Sheila

Sheila, no, my den had lovely pink blooms. It was a Trader Joe's plant, so it wasn't really "properly" planted. It was in regular potting soil! After it finished blooming, I put it into fir bark and am keeping it quite dry.

Hey, look at my dendrobium, lost all its leaves: http://4flavoursblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/my-new-dendrobium-orchid.html

It is normal for Dendrobium nobile to lose leaves on older pseudobulbs. Does the plant have signs of a new growth appearing at the base of the larger pseudobulb/cane?

In any case you need to find some complete culture notes written for the UK on the net. You need to find notes that relate to the nobile types of Dendrobium which need to be kept a bit drier and cooler in winter than some other types but still need high light.

yes it looks like right on the top something is growing, not sure what it is yet :), and also in the middle of the plant as well. so now i'm full of hope. have to admit it was terrifying to watch my plant loosing all them leaves so quickly.