Nick, do I understand you right. You have the plants sitting in water??? If so then take them out. They do not like WET feet. Keep in mind that these gems grow on mossy branches that may be drenched during the day but that the water still drains off. How cool is your Cool G/H? And where are you in CA. I am in Santa Maria and about 10 miles east of the Pacific Ocean. Our area get almost daily breezes at least during the afternoon. I have had a couple of Den. cuths for a few years and I have mine growing in small baskets-what they came in-one has not been repotted at all-the other I put into home grown osmunda root. My plants have both new growth and new flower buds developing. I use R/O water. Can't recall when I last fertilized them, maybe a year or so ago?? But they get shade during this time of year and less so during winter when the trees drop their leaves. I may or may not water them every day but I definitely give them a squirt of water when I spray my mosses, etc. which is roughly every three to four hours. But it depends on the day. If it is overcast and cool then nothing. On a nice warm and relatively light breeze day as this then for sure. Your system sounds like it would be great for growing Disa. Check out the link to see the general weather for my area. You may want to click the California link at the top of the page and see if you can locate your area for comparison. I tend to think that Den. cuths are probably lost more to kindness than to neglect. I am presuming that the plants you got from Tom are in bark? And congrats on the purchases. Golden Gate has excellent cultivars available. Been meaning to order some myself but got sidetracked by some personal issues. Here is a link that might be useful: Climate Zone general info on Santa Maria CA

Here in Florida I stop fertilizing Oct 1 and only modest water. Yours were watered and fertilized past the correct cutoff date. Nobile's need to feel slightly threatened. If the water and fertilizer goes too long it will produce babies instead of flowers. The threat makes them want to procreate, hence flowers. No threat no flowers. How many canes on your plant? If a lot, later after the new growth gets bigger, cut the entire cane. Next you might cut a little more so you can bury the cane in a new pot so the roots are at or just above the potting material. That way it will draw nutrition from the old cane. In 2 or 3 years the old cane will biodegrade and the plant will be blooming. I do not cut back on the water and feed for the first year or 2.

Harvey, I missed your mention of Nobiles. I thought you were talking about Dendrobiums in general. When I grew in NY, I always used Halloween as the cut off on my Nobiles. I got good flowering and a few keikies here and there. Now, in Florida, I only have three Nobiles, the majority of my Dends are hard cane. My Nobiles are still finishing growth on their newest canes. I do not cut off water until they finish. Usually falls around the end of October. However, mine grow outdoors and will get rained on. It hasn't affected flowering nor keiki production. I get great blooms (I've posted photos of them in the Gallery yearly). Since winter is the dry season in Florida, the little rain they get hasn't bothered them. I stop fertilizing in June on all my Dends. Jane

Hello All! I've enjoyed reading your entries on growing in LECA. I traded plants for the first time with someone on reddit some weeks ago and ran out to buy some LECA before right the box arrived. I have a cutting of incrassata that's starting to root, but burtoniae did not seem to be having a good time in the LECA, so I've moved it to perlite and hoping for the best, no roots yet. I'm really hoping they take, because they were lovely cuttings, two of which have peduncles and I would be very sad to lose them. I've rinsed and soaked the LECA in very, very diluted rooting solution before applying cuttings. Bill, I like the idea of a bark/perlite mix for repotting the ones that like it really dry and airy. I would think you won't want to keep a reservoir because it would encourage the bark to decompose quicker (or so I learned from the orchid folks), but I've never tried it, so hopefully someone else pipes in.