Dendrobium culture: No, its not dead.

For most orchid growers nowadays, Phalaenopsis are the gateway drug to bigger and more expensive plants.  But the Phalaenopsis that are now widely available are the product of many decades of hybridizing toward producing a plant that will survive in the average home even when (shudder of horror), watered with ice cubes.   Orchids species are an entirely different beast.  With 30,000 species (at least) species orchids show growing patterns and seasonal cycles very different from your average hardware store Phalaenopsis.   That is why it is important to read about the plants you buy.  A lot of orchid growers do impulse buying and then are bewildered by the way their plants react. 

 An example of a plant that can confuse a novice grower that is trying species is Dendrobium devonianum.  It produces slim canes that can be almost a meter long.  Unlike the leaves of Phalaenopsis, the leaves of Den. devonianum are slim, delicate and are soon deciduous.   During the growing season a cane of this species has leaves near the growing end of the cane with the rest quite bare.   When the cane stops growing, it eventually sheds all its leaves and for months afterwards it looks like its dead.    If the canes have been exposed to strong light and have developed a purplish color, they can look even worse.

This is an adaptation to the cold dry season when the trees lose their leaves and it rains little.  The orchids then have to endure months of drought and harsh sunlight.   My plant blooms in April, just before the local rainy season starts.  For months it looks like a mass of dead and shriveled stems.   But this is deceptive.  In the nodes of those leafless stems the flower buds are maturing.  A well flowered plant is quite impressive.

If you look at the top photo, the orchid looks like its in a wretched condition, ready to be thrown into the trash can.   But if you look closely, you can see the remains of many inflorescences in the second longest cane.   Note the very small root ball.  That is not unusual, if a plant is well fed and watered it will produce just the minimum of roots it needs to fill its needs.   In the bottom photo you can see the cane covered with flowers.