THANKS! It did have some new growth, and it hasn't bloomed for a
year. I will hold off on the fertilizer and keep the reservoir barely
filled and see what happens.

In article , V_coerulea
wrote:

It can usually handle lower temps, but it may be the sudden drop that
shocked it. Did it have new growth? Had it already bloomed? In any case,
DON'T fertilize if there's no new growth. Keep barely moist and hopefully
new growth will appear soon. Resume fertilizing then. The old canes normally
drop leaves anyway. They are the canes that will flower for you for a number
of years. Good luck.
Gary

"dd" wrote in message
...
I'm in New England and have a dendrobium secundum that is in S/H
culture. It was doing well inside, enjoying South-facing windowsill
culture. I moved it outside for the summer, on the East side of the
house.

After a few weeks, we had a colder-than-usual night, and later, all the
leaves dropped off the canes (7 or so canes). None of my other
dendrobiums (mostly nobile hybrids, some kingianums, some junkers) lost
their leaves, just this one. A month and a half later, the canes are
still bare--green but bare. I checked the roots, and they are are
fine. I think the plant had decided to go dormant, even though it's
summer.

So, should I fertilize the plant and hope that it comes back to vigor
and then goes dormant again in the fall, as it is supposed to, or
should I leave it alone, giving it water but no fertilizer? Should I
bring it back in the house? This was a fairly expensive plant (pushing
$100), and I don't want to kill it.

BTW, I've had a lot more trouble with various kinds of species plants
than I have had with hybrids. Up until now, I thought that dendrobiums
were impossible to kill (getting them to flower well is another
story).