Flowering vs too much sunlight?

[Jonatan]

Does anyone know if too much sunlight cause oncidiums and epidendrum to not flower? I know about photoperiod but since it's normal sunlight that should be alright. I think?

[Alexis in Redland]

Are you talking about Onc hybrids (as opposed to more picky species) and reed-stemmed Epis? Both of these like a lot of sun. I actually grow my Epi in full South Florida sun for a good part of the day, and my Oncs grow in the same light as my Vandas. I would suspect that not enough sun may be behind their reluctance to bloom.

[Jonatan]

Yes they are hibrids and they have a southern exposure in the house so they have sun all day. Bright direct sunlight. No burn on the leaves or anything but bright direct sun.

[Ross]

If I may comment, you are at a rather northern latitude than Alexis. I down here in Florida City right now and direct sun here is exteremely more bright than direct sun in Quebec (or Michigan, for that matter). So I recommend gradually getting them used to direct sun in south window (or outdoors in summer) and watch for reddish coloring on leaves. That's a sign of too much sun (for that plant). Native Encyclia here is being exposed to direct sun because leaves are pretty-much gone from the trees. Later, in rainy season, new leaves will temper the sun a bit. You can use that as a judge.