light levels in dry winter rest...does it matter?
 

so far i only have an overhead MH light. I want more blooms out of my winter rest dendros to bloom (aphyllum, pendulum, nobile, anosum etc)

does the amount of light that falls on the dormant canes effect how many blooms you get? I don't get as many as I like. With the overhead light, the tops obviously get more light, which seem to get more blooms than the bottoms.

does even lighting on the cane help with more blooms? If so, i would lay the plants on their sides or get a light pointed horizontally

I hope this makes sense

The short answer is yes, they want very bright light over the winter rest, they will actually handle full sun. So the brighter the artificial light the better.

Of the species you listed, I only grow Dendrobium nobile. It does want as much light as you can give it, and full sunlight won't do any damage. I think the key is the cool nights for a prolonged period of time (say, one to two months of nights anywhere between 35 and 45 F) and a schedule of minimal watering. With the MH light set-up you have, you should be able to get some nice blooms on the nobiles if you give them cool nights and place them near the bulb. Good luck with your plants!

Steve

Increasing the light levels would be my guess as most of the growers I have spoken to will tell me to "increase" my light level when something is not blooming etc.

I would not however extend the day or light them at night. I would simply supplement the current lighting conditions with stronger light.

Brighter light is normally needed for heavier bloom for this group. Of all the plant D. nobile is coolest growing one and need the highest light level.
D. pendulum, amphyllum, superbum...can take less light and warmner temp, and still bloom heavily for me. General rule is the thicker the cane, the more light they can take. Thinner cane type like devonianum, findyanum etc. are more shade tolerent.