Taking the seedlings from under the T8

[Yéri]

Right, I don't know whether this should be in the beginners or advanced discussion, but I always feel like a beginner when it comes to orchids so...here I go!

I have a bunch of seedlings growing under a T8 fluorescent bulb (full spectrum-ish, leaning towards the growth-enhancing color of the spectrum). They are growing well, they had 10h/day during winter and been on 12h/day since March or April I can't remember.

Thing is, we have a sun lounge or whatever you want to call it. It contains all my other orchids.
It's facing East and is receiving sun for most of the day (roughly from 6 am up until 7-8pm probably when the sun hits the roof).

I consider this being a fair amount of light, at least that's what my bigger plants seem to tell me

My question is: would it be beneficial to move the seedlings from under the T8 (thus also reducing energy consumption of course ) and into the sun porch?
Would they receive more/less light or would the light be of better quality in general (which I suspect tbh)?

Don't know if I've given you enough information in order to receive an adequate reply.
If pics are needed, I'll be able to provide those tonight as I'm at work atm.

Thanks in advance!

Yéri~

[Orchidsoutdoors]

Nothing beats real sunlight, artificial light simply can't match the spectrum. Provided you acclimate then gradually, I'd definitely move them to the sunny spot.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

How big are the seedlings? This is very important. The smaller the seedlings, the more I'm inclined to say to continue growing under lights until they are large enough. Should the seedlings be large for their kind, then you may start acclimating them to life in the sun lounge.

[Yéri]

Right well that's certainly a step closer to understanding them. The earliest seedlings were taken out of flasks in February and the rest once in a while since then.

Here are some pictures. When there was a lot of difference between the pots, I put the biggest and smallest one next to each other.
Business card on the background to for the scale.

They probably don't look too healthy, but they're stable. Quite a few had some difficulties from when I started and made some mistakes

Here we go:
1) Bulbophyllum orectopetalum


2) Laelia harpophylla
The tip of the leaves were burnt by the T8 (even though it's very cool to the touch). I got them from ecuagenera, they were in good shape so I decided to take them out asap. What I didn't think about was that they had been wrapped up and shipped during 2 weeks more or less, so they had a bit of a shock


3) Paphinia herrerae
Same shipment, different bottle. They were bright green and looking great when I got them. Took them out and next day that's what I found! But they're all growing and have shoots so they'll make it I hope


4) Coelogyne pulverula
Right pot are the small clumps I didn't want to throw away so I'm hoping something will come out eventually


5) Baptistonia echinata


6) Tuberolabium quisimbingii
Don't really know how to handle this one, took it out in February but they remain like this, not moving one bit.


I'm already looking forward to anything you can help me with

Yéri~

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

1. Bulb orectopetalum:

Right pot can go in the sun lounge.

2. Laelia harpophylla:

Can go in the sun lounge.

3. Paphinia herrerae:

Keep under lights for 1 - 2 yrs.

4. Coelogyne pulverula:

Left pot can go in the sun lounge.

5. Baptistonia echinata:

Left pot can go in the sun lounge.

6. Tuberolabium quisimbingii:

Can go in the sun lounge.

---------- Post added at 09:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:47 AM ----------

Btw, Tuberolabium leaves/shoots grow really slow. Roots grow faster.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

1. Bulb orectopetalum:

Right pot can go in the sun lounge.

2. Laelia harpophylla:

Can go in the sun lounge.

3. Paphinia herrerae:

Keep under lights for 1 - 2 yrs.

4. Coelogyne pulverula:

Left pot can go in the sun lounge.

5. Baptistonia echinata:

Left pot can go in the sun lounge.

6. Tuberolabium quisimbingii:

Can go in the sun lounge.

I think Philip nailed it.

[Yéri]

Wauw, you seem confident enough! It's more or less what I was expecting, the Paphinia is a bit of a surprise but I'll follow your advice and keep them under lights.

We're barely getting sun here in Belgium and I'm already thinking about winter...the ones that are taken out, would it be beneficial to (as long as they're not too big) move them back under the lights during the darker months?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

When it gets darker during winter, I don't see why you can't grow them under lights again.

[Yéri]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

When it gets darker during winter, I don't see why you can't grow them under lights again.

Right, I just thought that once they'd be taken out, it'd be better to get them used to the "normal" weather we have for the other plants.
But as they're still young so I'd rather have them grow well during the winter

Thank you again for all the advice!

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by Yéri

Right, I just thought that once they'd be taken out, it'd be better to get them used to the "normal" weather we have for the other plants.
But as they're still young so I'd rather have them grow well during the winter

Thank you again for all the advice!

If you keep the temperatures up, small plants like this will definitely keep growing through the winter if you water them. I do this with all my seedlings, even the ones that are supposed to go dormant. It just means they flower that much sooner.