Question
We have a Den. Woon Leng.  The blooms have all fallen off and some original shoots are loosing leaves, however there are four new shoots coming up.  Do I cut off the old shoots or will these flower again?  We really know nothing about orchids so I don't know how to trim it?

Answer
Kathie, I have several observations to share with you. First, the normal growth habit of most dendrobiums is to go into a period of rest following flowering. Since these plants are deciduous, they tend to lose most or all leaves following flowering.  Do not remove these leafless canes.  Some types of dendrobiums will rebloom on these old canes.  Many novice dendrobium growers fail to recognize the cyclic nature of growth and rest and continue to water and feed their dendrobiums even when they have entered their rest period.  When the watering continues, the dendrobiums may skip their rest period, in whole or part.  If the dendrobium's rest period (of several months) is not respected, it will continue to send up new growth.  Over the years, the new growths continue to diminish in size.  For now, since you have new growth, continue to water and feed the dendrobium.  However, if these new growths flower, you should reduce the watering to a light watering every other week.  The purpose of this watering is to maiantain healthy canes without taking the plant out of its rest period.  Do not remove any shoots (ie canes) as these will play a role in starting health new growth and may reflower.