Actually I do believe that one DOES require a winter rest to form flower buds.

Have you given it a winter rest yet? Or do you grow it at constant temps and continue to water when dry?

Dendrobiums often require a dry period for flowering before it is watered unless it is in active growth. Water supple should be reduced in winter and rainy seasons to help flowering.

Yes, and apparently what you're doing is not working...so try something else for a year.

It also needs a bigger pot

I think it is a hard cane dendrobium/phal type. Doesn't need a winter rest but likes lots of light. I think the potting looks fine. Should bloom from top of plant between set of leaves.

More light is the answer IMO.

Good luck,

Bob

Wow! I looked the name up on orchidroots. What a beautiful color combination.

No winter rest for this type and you have a new growth just starting that you don’t want to set back. The roots look wild but also look healthy. I notice that the recent growths are smaller than the older ones. You are likely not going to get blooms until you can get the new canes closer in size to the older ones. Are you feeding? I would say, give it more light and water more often if it is drying out sooner.

The old growth to the left is a bit bigger than the new growth. That tells me the plant had a set back at some point a few years ago. The new growth should be just as big or bigger than the previous growth.

Why it had a set back is what you need to figure out. Could have been mistreated before you bought it, or maybe shock from a change in environment. The plant looks healthy so it may be recovering already. If you see the new growth starting to get larger each year I would bet it will flower when it gets back to the size it was when you bought it. If they keep getting smaller you need to change something or it will eventually die when it runs out of reserves.

The flower spike should develop over summer and bloom in fall. You could water less in winter but I think flowering is driven more by conditions in spring and summer when it’s growing.

I would put it in a slightly larger pot but wait until you see a new bud developing.

On second look, I see there is a new growth starting so I guess you can re pot it now.

Hi James, I bought it from ecuagenera so it was shipped from Ecuador. When I got it those larger stakes did have leaves which then fell off and once it begun growing again the stalks were much skinnier.

It's funny that you mentioned growth because I noticed this plant grows a new stalk yearly around the same time which is mid to late fall and it grows taller throughout winter and matures around spring. Which makes me wonder if giving it a winter rest like others have mentioned would stun its growth.

I see you're a second person mentioning pot size, I keep reading everywhere to keep them in small pots.

As a general rule, epiphytic orchids don't care if their roots are in a pot or not. The major reason for a pot is to provide stability, imo. The roots can absorb water and nutrients if you apply water and liquid fertilizers whether they're in the media or hanging in the air.
One benefit of smaller pots is less danger of long-term root rot, certainly if conditions support large masses of aerial root, the plant is probably doing ok with regards to most conditions, though it sure makes repotting fun/unfun.

It's just light. LOTS more light. You're unlikely to get it to bloom unless your lights are in the 1000-watt-full-spectrum category, or you add massive natural daylight to you existing lights. They need the kind of light that melts most other plants. Pot looks fine.

Dendrobiums mostly DO need seasonal variation to bloom.

I also agree with Tom that they need loads of light.

The OP does not mention their feeding regime.

Here is the very valuable culture sheet from the AOS:

https://www.aos.org/orchids/culture-sheets/dendrobium.aspx

Hi. I’m a bit confused. At the greenhouse where I go they hold back on water just about ignoring them but they do get high light as mentioned.
Here’s where I am confused.
Doesn’t watering them through the winter encourage more leaf growth than putting out buds?
Isn’t there some point when one has to hold back watering until forcing them to bloom since in nature that happens ?
I use to water mine right through the winter and all I ever got was new growth and skinnier to mention.
Since I stopped with the regular watering late in fall mine set buds now. All I do is lightly spray them with rain water. Sort of a seasonal thing.
I do provide lots of light but not much water.
So am I doing something against what I should do or a I just lucky ?
I did notice new growth slows in fall to make way for flowers by late winter As goes that greenhouse.
When I visit that greenhouse after weeks of holding back lots of watering they have blooms everywhere. I just followed their example living up here in wintery New England.

Sorry. One more thing.
I do keep some on a humidity tray and on a good porch that gets warm by day which I think may help. The porch not heated beyond 50 at night and warmer by day.
That greenhouse can also be a bit humid in which I’m guessing the roots get a bit of moisture anyways without having to water. Plus the temps in there get pretty cool at night and very warm by day.
So is it temps fluctuations cooler temps by night and light that she needs?
Should she pull back on watering to promote blossoms rather than new growth all winter ?
So I could use clarity myself and thank you )

Katsols,

According to orchidroots, the hybrid you have is about 3/4 spatulata tribe and 1/4 phalaenanthe tribe. (Just to make better use of the AOS culture sheet referenced above.)

I think moving from Ecuador to the US is what caused it to stop flowering. I’m guessing the first new growth you got was much smaller and it’s been getting a little bigger each year since. That’s a common reaction to an environment change.

Repotting is almost as much for you as it is for the plant. Yes they do like smaller pots, but by next year that plant won’t be in the pot at all anymore. The new roots will spread out looking to grab onto something and will grab onto the pots next to it. If you move the pot around you will break the roots. It will also be hard to water indoors with the roots everywhere. I would remove the oldest 2 canes an shift the plant left so the new growth is closer to the center of the pot.

Green canes do supply food and water to the new growth but in my opinion, once they are a few generations back they don’t do much. Save them, they might sprout a new plant.

Mike it depends on which type of plant you have, especially with dendrobiums. Some grow , flower , then rest. Some grow, rest ,then flower. Some grow and flower no rest.

katsols,

Hardcane/phal type dendrobiums need lots and lots of light to bloom. The lack of adequate light may also explain why the new growths are smaller, it's a big part of cultural/environmental changes when you purchase an orchid. Plant and potting look fine to me, dendrobiums like to have 'tight shoes'. It just needs more light to induce blooms in my opinion.

Mike,

As James said, it depends on type of dend. Nobile types need a cool dry spell for sure, Kingies do also. I can't get a kingie to flower for the life of me, so I gave up on them and the true nobile types. Let's not even discuss "aggrevateums"... Pays to research or be willing to learn from experience/wallet :)

Good luck,

Bob