Sunburn?

[Paul Mc]

LOL... True that! Beach worshipper here!

That's good to know. I always thought on phals that was what you were shooting for. Just a hint of purple on the leaves to maximize the flower potential.

[james mickelso]

But catts can be burned. Here are examples. The first one was almost direct sunlight in the middle of the day for about an hour. Left outside while I went surfing. (slaps himself around). The other two were from a couple hours of direct sunlight through holes in the plastic on my GH that I cut for ventilation.

[james mickelso]

For phals, I usually see them in the greenhouses growing in shaded light. Not nearly as bright as say catts and even cyms. Usually a heavier white painted plastic or I've seen them growing in a shade cloth house. The purple is most likely the species. My white phals never get any purple on them and I have mine in a brighter light than I would have them if I had more room. Pacific Orchids in Leucadia has them in the most shaded part of their growing house and they bloom very nicely. Remember that the more light you give above the normal requirements the more air movement you have to give to cool the surface of the leaf.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by Paul Mc

WOW!!! So that's what sunburn does. Ooooops.... I'm sorry my orchids! I just thought it was age or something.

Honestly, when I first saw the pics I thought the leaves looked spotted purple and saw purple on the edges of the leaf. Is this true? If so, could it actually be from getting really good and perhaps a bit strong light? Purple on the edges of leaves I know is good as that means its probably getting just a little above what is necessary but probably about right. Please correct me if I'm wrong guys!

Yes that's true, but not for newly growing leaves. Especially for dark colored bloomed Phals, new leaves tend to have purple spots and edges anyway, which then fade away as the leaf hardens off.

[tim abbott]

Hi James,

I live in Cocoa Beach, Fl. It is east of Orlando on the atlantic coast. Getting very hot now, I have a big shefflera tree that provides shade, I keep mine outside; have phals, encyclia, catts & catt hybrids & oncidiums, about 20 or so total.

Tim Abbott

[Trini Kjeldz]

poor plant punished for hoarding a lil junk lol

[james mickelso]

You might get some weather excitement next week or so. Whatever happens is slated to go right through you folks back there. I'm an old weather guy from the us navy. Here's another from my series on "don't leave your orchids out in the noon day sun and go surfing stupid". Not good for them.