I'd consider putting it into a clay pot that drys out faster. Put it near a window that gives it alot of light and allow it to dry out completely between watering. I see some mold on the dead leaf so stop misting it and it should be OK in time.

Looks normal to me. These dens loose their lower leaves normally. Just watch your watering. Grow it fairly dry in winter, and don't fertilize.

Jane

In addition to jane's excellent advice I would add that the plant may also want more light. Put it closer to a light source gradually so it won't burn.

I lost another leaf and 2 more are yellowing and turning leathery. One spike no longer has leaves and another is about to lose it's last one, haven't seen any new growth yet. I stopped misting last week. I added sphag to the top since the potting mixture is new.

Even if your dend loses all it's leaves, it's worth keeping it. Shove it outside when it warms up. It may put out a new shoot in spring or summer from the old cane. There's a thread by richardol on new shoots from a dead-looking dend, if you can find it.

I also agree with the other advice: more light, smaller pot, clay pot.

Worry less about the humidity and more about the light. Dends like a lot of light. Think south window + supplemental light for evenings and dim days.

the spikes look dry and ribbed, they're also very hard, is it not getting enough water so the stalks are drying out as well as the leaves?

Its when the stalks start getting soft and rubbery that you have to start worrying! For now, do as the others suggest and worry about how to get serious amounts of light to where the dends live.

H

In my opinion the worst room in the house to try and grow an orchid is the bathroom. Might be nice while people are having showers but then in winter it probably gets cold and damp for a while after showering ceases.
Most bathrooms have tiny windows for obvious reason.

Your orchid looks like a Hardcane Dendrobium that needs warmth and good light throughout the year to grow well and flower.

Mine are in a glasshouse and most are in flower now (summer) They are getting hours and hours of sunlight on sunny days but that sunlight is being filtered by Shadecloth.

Your orchid looks in fairly good condition and given good conditions should start to grow a new pseudobulb when spring arrives.

Deniba, FYI:

The tall cigar shaped things that the leaves grow on are actually pseudobulbs. On a dendrobium they are called canes. The canes (bulbs) hold water and nutrients for the plant. If the plants are dry the canes provide the water and nourishment the plants need. A spike grows off the tip of the cane and carries the flower buds and eventually the open flowers.

Dendrobiums lose leaves at this time of year. As arthurm says, they like to be kept sunny and warm all year, and as Smwboxer and Jane say, on the dry side in the winter. Watering heavily, fertilizing and misting the plant at this time would cause the plant to suffer. Light (not humidity) is the most crucial part of growing this plant. In April the plant will want to start growing again. As Mehitabel says, shove it outside and give it as much sun as it can take and copious amounts of water and fertilizer. Drop back on these again in the early fall and go back to keeping the plant on the dry side, no fertilizer, and lots of sun for the winter.

I'll probably get flack for this, but I wonder if anyone else finds these plants the easiest orchids to grow in colder climates. I've been growing them for years and they always flower each winter like clock-work.

After they finish flowering Nov-Jan, I literally put them away. I don't give them any supplemental light, I rarely water them. I don't even have them near the windows. In my mind they go to sleep until Spring. At around mid-March they begin sending up new growths and it is only then that I even notice them. I move them to the windows and put them outside as soon as the weather settles, which is usually late April.

Outside, I gradually move them to full sun and water them freely until fall. By then they are all spiking.

I wonder if anyone else does the same thing? I really give them little care or light over winter and they don't seem to care at all. What is the point of 'lighting them' over winter. They are not growing, it doesn't seem to affect them in the least.

I would be curious to know how others treat these plants in Northern climates.

Jane

Jane, here in Cymbidium heaven, those Hardcanes are considered extremely difficult to grow. They are as scarce as hen's teeth on the show bench and at monthly meetings.

I did try one "outside" during winter because it grew into a six foot monster and outgrew its welcome in my slightly heated glasshouse. Outside here in winter would seem like the tropics to some people. It wasn't for that particular Dendrobium because it declined despite being on the front porch and getting several hours of morning sun. At the end of winter i put it in my shadehouse and it declined even further. It has gone to orchid heaven.

Orchid heaven, i fear is the fate of those you see in florist shops and other outlets. They will be put with those easy to grow (here) Native Dendrobiums and Softcanes and it will be RIP.

You obviously have a bit of room so tallness of plants is not a worry, but if i buy any more i'm going to look at the ancestors with a view of buying those that only grow to a reasonable height.

I have quite a few in flower now (summer) and this has only happened since i moved them from a glasshouse that is keep reasonably wet to one that has a lot of airflow from the outside.

In the other glasshouse they always tended to bloom late autumn/winter and all that was needed was a couple of rainy days at less than adequate temperatures and a promising blooming ended up with bud drop.

Haven't tried to grow them indoors with my Phals because there is no room left on the windowsills but suspect that they would do well in Phal conditions with perhaps a little extra light.

I long ago gave up trying to grow Dends because each winter they would slowly sicken and die. I suspect, Jane, that most people in our area try, at first, to keep these plants going even though they can't supply the needed light and heat. "Trying" also usually means regular (weekly) water and eventual loss of roots and eventual death. Your method of a winter rest is something I came to long after I stopped working with Dends but it helps me now with other things. I doubt that it is actually 'good' for a tropical plant to be treated this way and I am sure they would rather have winter conditions that resemble a North American summer but at the moment all my tropicals are stalled and on minimal water but (yay) they are finally getting decent light from a south exposure. And speaking of light. Even though stalled the dends do need light. Obviously if you can supply enough naturally not to need electric supplementation, fine, but many windowsill growers need to supplement otherwise their plants will rot. You know if that is you if your canes start to get soft and yellow no matter what you do.

H

I'm with you, Jane. I find dendrobiums the easiest of all orchids to grow and that includes phals, which I think are pretty darn fussy. Phals grow well if you cater to their needs. If not, they flounder. But dens, especially the nobiles, are carefree. Stop fertilizing in August, stop water in November, ignore them until buds start to pop in late January, then once in a while some water until April. I just give them baby sips of water (a quick drink without saturating them).

Unlike you, though, I just leave them on the west facing windowsill until it's almost time to put them out. I don't know why, Howard, but my dens do well on the windowsill without any supplemental light. I guess they get so much over the summer it carries them through the hard times.

It was hard at first for me to learn to ignore them as I'm very nurturing and water is the essence of life. It was hard to withhold it at first, but when I saw how well the plants were doing it got easier.

I would also get some air movement going too, A small fan.

Hi! I don't know if you still read this,. but I have the exact same problem with my Dendrobium now. I'm wondering what happened to your orchid, what did you do?

Wow, old post. I moved top Florida so everything grows outside now. In NY I did put the winter flowering dends away after they finished blooming. They went outside in Spring and grew new growths. They didn't seem to suffer from being put in a corner in January. You need to know what type dends you are growing. Also, what zone, area are you growing in?

Jane

Thanks for explaining your growing method, Jane. Do you think den. chrysotoxum and nobiles take similar care? The Chryso blooms at least 6 spikes every year.

I once had over 15 from Yamamoto and lost them all over the years. Sigh, many of those varieties are no longer found. At that time I, unfortunately, hadn't figured out the water and rest correctly.