Dormancy question - Deciduous dendrobiums

[coeruleo]

from my research dormancy can be triggered by cooler nights. then the leaves begin to die off and you taper off watering while that happens, letting them go longer and longer between waterings. i just bought a couple dendros thinking they would come in their dormant phase, but all so far have come with leaves... but more mature sized so i think fully grown. i'm probably going to have to put them outside to get them into dormancy, but i have to admit, it is a little daunting to do it suddenly. i'm keeping them inside for a few nights, near windows that let in a bit of cooler air first.

[78Terp]

How does one know that a particular dendro does a dormancy period? Is it only the deciduous ones that do a dormancy period?

[catttan]

How does one know that a particular dendro does a dormancy period? Is it only the deciduous ones that do a dormancy period?

Dendrobiums come from Asia and the Indo-Pacific Region stretching to New Guinea and Australia, a very large area with very diverse climatic conditions. Most of the cultivated dendrobiums have come from the countries with (1) an Equatorial climate, hot and wet (80-100 ins rain) all year round, with no distinct dry season - this is the home of the so-called hard cane dendrobiums or the evergreens - of course there are leafless old canes, a result of ageing and not the deciduous seasonal shedding of leaves; (2) the Monsoonal climate, that varies from the hot Tropical Monsoon nearer to the Equator with a diurnal range of 15 to 20F and the cool Tropical Monsoon that stretch slightly beyond the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, with a diurnal range of over 20F, though winter temperatures vary greatly in this region from cool to cold. All Monsoonal climates are characterised by a cooler/colder, dry winter and hot wet summer. The dry can stretch from 3 to 5 months. This area is home to the soft cane or deciduous dendrobiums. Rainfall is 40-60 inches annually.
BTW in these regions where there is less rainfall i.e from 20-40 ins annually then Savanna grasslands will occur.

IOSPE is a good source of reference.

[coeruleo]

my kingianum keeps leaves for a few years, but it has a phase in winter where it needs much less water and cooler nights to flower. otherwise it will only grow keikis. which it puts out a few of anyway, even if you darn near kill the thing over winter. i was rough on mine last year, went over 2 months with zero water. the bulbs looked desiccated. but then when i saw buds i began watering and it put out tons and tons of spikes, and 3 keikis. the bulbs all plumped up a bit again. this year i am not being so rough. watering every 2 or 3 weeks. it never really goes 'dormant' i guess, but without the pronounced rest period the blooming is supposed to be very poor. i'm interested in seeing what difference the watering will make this year.