Better blooms in lower vs. higher light

[MateoinLosAngeles]

I thought we could open a thread to discuss which plants we've found to bloom significantly better under either lower or higher than recommended light.

I'll start with a few:

- Ponerorchis enomotoe: lower light, better color. much deeper color in lower light, but also seems to make the plant more compact and deeper green.



- Phalaenopsis White Dream: lower light, smaller flowers. Growing in higher light (about 80-90 umol/m2/s) yielded smaller than expected blooms. This photo was of the first flower to open, subsequent ones were much, much smaller.



- Oncidium Heaven's Scent: higher light, better blooms. A light hog, the more light, the more flowers, more fragrant, more everything! It can take some direct afternoon sun for me.

[KatieM]

I love this idea! I have been in the process of going through all of mine and trying to list just this thing. And heaven scent is one of them that I get to bloom but I struggle with getting a lot. This whole time apparently I haven't given it enough light! I will be moving it tomorrow. Thank you so much for this!

[MateoinLosAngeles]

Originally Posted by KatieM

I love this idea! I have been in the process of going through all of mine and trying to list just this thing. And heaven scent is one of them that I get to bloom but I struggle with getting a lot. This whole time apparently I haven't given it enough light! I will be moving it tomorrow. Thank you so much for this!

I keep mine wet at all times (in S/H with a top layer of sphagnum moss which has been really helpful), when the root system is well developed it drinks a lot and the reservoir empties quickly. Watering about once a week seems to be enough, the sphagnum is always moist, once a week has passed the reservoir is completely empty but there is still visible moisture in the pot. I worked mine into stronger light during the spring so I'm not sure how receptive it would be of a drastic change (I think higher humidity and good watering helps) but it was originally placed by a NW facing window and would receive about 6 hours of intense light a day, including some direct sun when the sun moved faster than I could move the plant, it didn't seem to be enough to burn the leaves at all. I think they can take a lot! On warmer days the scent can be smelled throughout the house from the early morning until the afternoon. I would wake up and think "is someone brewing coffee with chocolate?"

[tmoney]

howdy! we have only noticed some differences on phals that bloom all year. winter flowers are typically less pigmented it seems like.

otherwise, the biggest experiment we have been running is with our only oncidium (sharry baby). we have been keeping it in phal light for over a year. it is still alive and sort of growing, but with that low light it hasn’t flowered. so clearly, this experiment has had a definite result and a couple weeks ago we moved it back to the window sill and high light. hopefully it will start blooming again in the spring!

[dbarron]

As a general rule (and I'm sure there are exceptions), the more light (which means food/photosynthesis) you can give, the more growth you can fuel.
For most plants, it's really that simple...give them as much as they can take..and you'll win.

[Ray]

I think the question is too nebulous. “Higher” versus “lower” is relative.

Each of the wide range of “Goldilocks” plants has its own needs - the “just right” light level is but one.

The relationship between light level and color is less strong than it is with temperature, and I am not aware of a proven connection between flower size and light level, but there are a great many factors to which it can be.

Plus there’s the time factor. A plant that should be grown under more subdued light that has been grown brightly, will “take time off” once moved back to correct conditions, not blooming well until it has physiologically adjusted back to where it should have been. Once it has, all else being good, it’ll bloom better than ever.