Light issues - 14 new orchids

[gravotrope]

I added vandas both bloom size and a year or two away, asc/vanda hybrids, vandafinetia, tolumnia, and maxillaria...encyclia...two dendrobiums, and a miltassia shelob, but the yard gets some direct sunlight, for two-three hours around noon- stopping at 1230-1ish. I know that this is NOT the best time of day for them, but since they get the rest of the afternoon off my question is will my new additions adjust?

It is winter here in South Florida, and I know I will have to find some other sort of shade situation for the summer, but I really need to know if this will kill these supposed high light plants. I am acclimating them so they don't get the full sunburst yet, and my other option is having them get only about 10-20 minutes of direct sun at noon.

I am thinking that airflow is more important than how much sun they get, because that can be the thing that causes the leaves to burn--not just the light.

I really need to update my inventory sheet.

All my plants are outside, and I'm spraying them with cold pressed neem oil and soap, sometimes adding superthrive and food to it, other times just the plain air conditioner water.

[Gage]

While midday sun may or may not burn your vandas right now, the sun will be much more vertical in the sky as spring comes along and the days grow longer. So your protection plan may be different depending on the time of year. I have to move my orchids around seasonally to adjust for the position of the sun. That isn't true for everyone. But the short answer is they will need some shade at midday. Hope this helps.

[WhiteRabbit]

Even if light is insufficient for blooming a plant with high light requirements, they won't die unless grown in very deep shade constantly. Mid-day sun is stronger than morning or afternoon - tho less strong this time of year than others.

I'm not sure if you are asking if this is too little, or too much light...

Mid-day sun in summer can be too strong for many orchids, but most are probably fine with it at this time of year - tho I don't live in Florida - hopefully some members from there can chime in

[gravotrope]

Thanks for the tips, South Florida is very different from Boston.

I am probably going to put up one of those bamboo fences along a metal lattice that will actually block the sun 90% since it will make a shady spot facing north, and have wire threading the thing together, so I can hang my mounts right on the fence...

That's basically the only solution I can come up with that won't burn them in the summer. Unless by then they get acclimated and all the palms and grassy plants will be tall enough so I don't have to put them on the ground to keep them in shade.

hours of sun out back are roughly 9:30am-12:45pm but the first two hours are partial shade...definitely an odd situation. that's why I have to ask the board, since I don't want to move them multiple times daily

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I really recommend against growing most orchids under direct sun.

Maxillarias don't all grow in high light situations. Some of them are moderate light growing. A few can even grow in bright shade just fine.

Too much light can also burn the Vandas. Even though they are high light growing orchids, I advise against growing them under direct sun.

Again, depending on the Dendrobiums and Encyclias, they do not all grow in bright light. Direct sunlight may eventually cause a lot of damage to many varieties.

Miltassia will definitely not tolerate direct sun, especially during the summer.

L.A. is definitely not South FL, but we get some strong sun coming down here. I have not been able to grow Vandas under direct sun here at all.

Depending on the Maxillaria or Maxillaria relative, I was able to grow under direct sun, but even then, it caused some noticeable amount of damage.

[gravotrope]

for the most part I have been going by plant color, but my kingianum and to a lesser extent cymbidium can take the 2-3 hours of direct sun. the encyclia has a very hard thick leaf, which indicates it will be fine...but since i look at them daily and have been watching out for sunburn, I should be able to stop serious damage. I am just glad it's winter so the plants that screen my bench can grow into a better screen (they're short, which leaves me shuffling plants around and I hate it)!

if the plant color is too light I put it in the shade, and leave it there to recover so there isn't cellular damage...but that's pretty much on the ground at this point which can bring gnats and millipedes or snails... so I use cold pressed neem and snail/slug bait

My maxillaria sanguinum usually gets shoved in a small palm so any light that hits it is always changing. It just started to flower and unless the buds drop I am guessing it will be fine in that kind of situation.

I will have to move my planters around to shade my mounted vandas as that seems like the only solution to give them high light yet shade them from 11 onward

I have noticed these high light plants can take hours of direct sunlight provided it is outside of the 10am-3pm range, with air movement to keep the heat from building, but I can't move my yard so I needed to ask questions.

The plant screen seems easiest, since I have palms in planters already much taller than the hibiscus the vandas are next to that face slightly southeast, so I will go with that or the bamboo wall to create a north facing shade and stick them there.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Like others have mentioned, it is still winter...

Summer is yet to be known.