What will happen if...

[tkliew]

...an orchid gets 24 hours of light?...half day of indirect sunlight and half day of fluorescent light (night)...
Do orchid need some rest time without any light at night???

im beginner to orchid and this dilemma had been running around in my mind for a week...i hope orchid masters/experts here can help me...

-tkliew-

[Tindomul]

All plants need to keep a day night cycle. At night some very important metabolic processes occur that will not occur during the day. So it would be very good to keep them dark at night.

[Phantasm]

An orchid or any other plant or animal will probably respond to non-stop lighting the same as you or I would.
Our evolution requires rest to thrive.........

[tkliew]

Thanks tind, phanta...

i will do something to the fluorescent light so that the orchids can have some rest time at night...

1 more ques...what will happen/what is the symptom if the orchid get continuous light for 24 hrs a day....

thanks in advance...

-tkliew-

[Ray]

Some plants simply won't bloom, but most will eventually fade away, as they will be unable to store the chemicals generated by the non-photosynthetic processes that are predominant at night.

[Grandma M]

Two years ago I fell and spent 5 day in the hospital. My lights were not on a timer at that time, I bought the timers but didn't have them set up yet. My lights were on day and night for 5 days. It also got quite warm in that room because of the heat from the lights. My plants really suffered and took a long time to recover. It didn't take me long to set up the timers when I got home.

Believe me, too much light is VERY stressful for the plants.

[markr]

Plants require a dark period in which to focus on cellular respiration rather than photsynthesis. A dark period is doubly inportant for orchids however, as most orchids are CAM plants, which means they only absorb CO2 at night (in darkness), storing it as malic acid which is then used during the day during photosynthesis (unlike most plants which absorb CO2 during the day and directly use it during photosynthesis). CAM Photosynthesis is an adaptation meant to conserve water, as the plant's stomata are only open during the night resulting in less water loss to evaporation. Epiphytic plants, succulents, and cacti are the most typical examples. You can read more about it here, or just google 'CAM photosynthesis'.

The upshot is that an orchid deprived of a dark period would stop producing the materials necessary to grow and keep life functions going.

[Ross]

Originally Posted by markr

Plants require a dark period in which to focus on cellular respiration rather than photsynthesis. A dark period is doubly inportant for orchids however, as most orchids are CAM plants, which means they only absorb CO2 at night (in darkness), storing it as malic acid which is then used during the day during photosynthesis (unlike most plants which absorb CO2 during the day and directly use it during photosynthesis). CAM Photosynthesis is an adaptation meant to conserve water, as the plant's stomata are only open during the night resulting in less water loss to evaporation. Epiphytic plants, succulents, and cacti are the most typical examples. You can read more about it here, or just google 'CAM photosynthesis'.

The upshot is that an orchid deprived of a dark period would stop producing the materials necessary to grow and keep life functions going.

Thanks for this explanation. I knew about difference between photosynthesis, day and night (O in CO2 out) but your explain is pretty understandable.

[tkliew]

Thanks ray, granma and mark for the help...
now i had remove the fluorescent light from my orchids and they will have a good night sleep...

[justatypn]

Great info markr...