Phal leaves facing window or room?

[uffe3667]

Maybe a nit-picky question but i was wondering which way the leaves of my phals should pe pointing?
I grow on an extended window still ( about 35 cm, 14" wide). Over a central heating radiator.

With the currently freezing weather outside, the window creates a cold drop of about 15 c / 59 Fahrenheit. Most of the phals are slightly leaning towards one side of the pot.
Now i was wondering which side should these leaves point to?
Towards the window would put them in the cold drop of 15c/ 59 f pointing them toward the room they would be in the 20c+/70+f updrafts of the radiator.
Also in most cases the flowers slanting the opposite way than the leaves, so pointing the leaves towards the room would mean hanging the flowers over the heating updraft (although a lot higher than the leaves).
Would this matter in choosing a direction to face the plants in.
Anyone have an opinion?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

They're pointed in the right direction in the pic. Phals don't grow upright, they grow horizontally.

The following link is to someone else's Flickr account, and shows what a Phal growing in the wild looks like, I encourage you to check out the person's pics:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarawaklens/4096427259/

[Leisurely]

The proper thing to do with any and all plants growing on a window sill is to rotate the plant periodically. The exception to this is that you do not rotate Phalaenopsis once flower spikes with buds have developed because the flowers will be arranged in a distorted and underisable manner. Once the buds on Phalaenopsis have matured and the flowers are all open, you can continue rotating the plant.

[johnblagg]

Point them towards the strongest light source that is the direction they will grow towards and changing that just forces them to reoreint towards that again

[seamonkey]

I rotate my jades and philodendrons and such, but I don't rotate my orchids and particularly not the phals. I wouldn't want to stress them.

[Hedge]

The up draft from your radiator may be much warmer than 20 deg C - and also very dry - which could cause leaf damage and premature aging of the flowers. My Phals are mostly at 15 deg minimum at night, except for the recent cold snap, when it may have got down to 12, on a window sill where there are no curtains or close by radiator - they don't seem to mind the cooler temperatures

[Orchid126]

Every plant orients itself to the light. If you keep turning your plant you will have a twisted mess. Houseplants can be turned regularly but orchids grow differently. Though they grow from a central stem, phals lean over and don't grow upright to protect their crowns from standing water. Most other orchids grow from the tip of the rhyzome, and that growing tip should be oriented to the light. If you turn the plant the bulbs at the growing tip will be forced to turn toward the light and will struggle to grow properly.

Once the plant is in bloom you can take it out of the window and put it anywhere you like until blooming is done.

[wick]

I used to turn my phal to try and keep it even looking,but this resulted in some leaves getting twisted (see pic)
[IMG][/IMG]

My phals are also over a radiator on the window still,but theres a sofa pushed up to it and i can rest some water trays on top the radiator and the sofa hides them.

[Leisurely]

I grow in a greenhouse now but use to grow on a window sill and I did turn all of my plants without the twisted mess I am reading about. The secret to an erect plant is to turn just slightly every few days, 1/8th or 1/4th turn.