Indoor window lighting help!!!

[Ashleyma23]

I have been collecting orchids or I should say trying to keep them alive since 2010. My Husband bought me about 10 orchids all Phals one day , after the blooms faded eventually they died. After I had a few purchases from trader joes two cymbidium a I really loved , dendrobium nobile , a couple oncidiums , two winter wonderlands.

They all died I am now left with a winter wonderland that I dearly love. But I made the mistake of dividing it to make more plants and made 3 divisions. It's barely thriving in a south west window . I find they do better in full sun for some reason.


I have a BLC cattleya I brougbt back from Florida that I divided because I was super excited to have more plants !! What a big oops!!! It is down to 2 mature bulbs and a new growth and a baby. I also have it in full sun south west exposure.

I bought a bulldog phal and I repotted it in bloom. I don't want it to die. I also have it in full sun same window as other two.

I have a problem I have 4 kids. They get into all my plants.
I keep them on the counter in the kitchen but I recently read I can not have fruit or veggies near them but I'm vegan and have limited counter space.


East( bathroom and my kids playroom)
South east (my kitchen )( my living room huge window ( my sofa sits right up against it )
West my room )( my other living room window the sofa sits against it)
North ( my kids bedroom and my room)

I have a basement but I want to see the orchids all the time it cheers me up!! Also as air purifiers. I have a dry environment except when I'm cooking. Temps are about 80 but near the windows I have cold drafts. I don't have selves on the walls. I only have one self in the bathroom that sits high so my Hubby doesn't bang his head.

I order a few Phahs and they should arrive next week. I don't want them to Die ! I'm pretty excited. I have never rebloomed an orchid. I fertilize every other week weakly. And I am watering Phah before she dries. And the other two I wait longer. I have water under the plants not sitting on the pots to provide humidity.

My orchids seem to do when when I'm on vacation. I went on vacation in the summer and I came back to a ton of roots!!

Please help!! Thanks

---------- Post added at 12:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:42 PM ----------

My heating vents are under my windows as well. Please help me find a set up. Thank you!

[LovePhals]

Your children get into your plants? I haven't heard that kids are interested in them before.. As far as which window I would maybe use your bedroom window if your kids pick them up and may drop them and add LED lights if needed for extra light. I added LEDs to the bottom shelf of mine. I would also use the Kitchen south window for your higher light plants.
I also have Dgrma Winter Wonderland and I also find it likes light, I am trying to give it enough so it will rebloom for me! I have two racks I use for mine. One has heat vents above and the other right below. It has never been an issue. If anything provides air movement.

[WhiteRabbit]

I have heat vents beneath most of my windowsills too. It's not a problem unless the heat is blowing directly on the plant, especially any spikes, buds, blooms. Altho, I am usually able to go with only having heat on low for a few hours in morning and evening, so I can't say for sure if your heat it's going a lot ...

I have orchids growing in all my windows, which face north, south, east and west and do not use any supplemental lighting. My Dgmr Winter Wonderland did very well in a sunny east facing window.

South-east and west facing windows should also be good for many orchids.

Cymbidiums generally do best outside for as much of the year as your weather allows. http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ad.php?t=73502

[lotis146]

Something to keep in mind when you talk about direction of light also is the amount of shading you do or do not have from outside. My south facing window gets a ton of light in the winter since all the leaves are gone. But since it's winter the light isn't too much and doesn't harm my plants. Which in this south window I have two Tolumnias, a Miltonia, Zygolum, Laeiliocattleya, Paph (plain leaves), Paph (w/ maudiae leaves), and Promenaea. Near the window but not level with the others I have Degarmoara Star of Unicorn. Listing these just to show how strong the light is and isn't. In the summer this light will be more intense but not get through as much because of leaves. My north facing sliding door is always bringing direct light in, so it's not intense but it's consistent.

Have you considered hanging pots in front of the windows? If you have blinds or curtains you could use pot hangers to hang them so you don't have to worry that your couches are there. Might also be a solution for kids' areas?

[ALToronto]

I think your problems go far beyond lighting. In fact, I doubt lighting is much of an issue at this point. Low humidity is the worst problem, followed closely by excessive fertilisation with an inappropriate fertiliser, and poor water quality (tap, right?). Add to that blasts of hot furnace air, and you'd have trouble keeping a philodendron alive.

If you're serious about keeping your orchids alive, get a humidity meter and a humidifier, start collecting rain/snow water or get an RO system, and stop using fertiliser according to label instructions. Read through past posts on fertilizers and read the info on Ray Barkalow's website, firstrays.com

Then use Ray's calculator to adjust your fertiliser dosage to 10-15 ppm of Nitrogen. But first, check the media and the roots, repot if necessary, and flush out the residual crap with pure water. After everything else is in order, you can start worrying about lighting.

[Ashleyma23]

I like to add I have moved to a couple different locations. Also the fertilizer you find at the store is " not usable" . My water here from my drain is perfectly usable it is not hard water!

I am not using fertilizer according to the label? When did I state that?

I am constantly moving my orchids around I think it's mostly me bothering them and not my " conditions"

I briefly stated some information I did not write in detail the last 5 yrs!

[ALToronto]

No, I said you SHOULDN'T use fertiliser according to the label.

Orchids won't die from inadequate lighting. If yours have been dying, something else is the cause.

[Ashleyma23]

I DO NOT use fertilizer according the the label.

They don't die immediately the grow roots well but I constantly move them around bc lack of space.

I posted this to have a better idea of where to have them located and then be able to set up a humidifier. Why would I have a humidifier in the kitchen or bathroom , that would make no sense.

Thank you for your input but that's not what I needed for this post

[Leafmite]

Hi!
Plants and kids together, surprisingly, do not always benefit the plants. My oldest decided to help me by watering my African Violet collection...every day. I could not figure out why they were all dying!
My kids would bump into my plants and knock them off the shelf/table...then sometimes 're-pot' them. I lost a few nice ones that way.
Many orchids do hate to be moved. Each time, they need to adapt and that causes stress. If other conditions are not perfect, they begin to suffer. If they are growing roots and are moved, the rubbing on the medium on the tender new roots can kill the new roots. If you don't have a good, permanent place for them, you might want to consider growing under T5HO lights. That way, you can stick them in a dark corner away from the kids and everything else and not need to keep moving them. I just started growing my orchids all on shelves under the lights and I am getting some really nice results.
Also, if you are having root problems, you might want to try red lava rock or LECA and basket pots. That way, you don't really need to worry about over-watering them or the medium rotting and holding more water. I discovered early on that I could not grow in bark so, in the days before you could find vendors on the internet (the dark ages), I decided to try the red lava rock I saw offered for landscaping and...amazingly, I started to have roots that did not rot. For the newer orchids, I usually use LECA as I am buying mostly smaller orchids since I don't have much space. The LECA fits together nicely which is good for the smaller roots. I still use basket pots for everything.
Good luck and I hope you figure it all out. I have always grown things but it took me a little time to figure out the orchids. It is quite worth it, though, as they are really unique and beautiful.

[Ashleyma23]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

Hi!
Plants and kids together, surprisingly, do not always benefit the plants. My oldest decided to help me by watering my African Violet collection...every day. I could not figure out why they were all dying!
My kids would bump into my plants and knock them off the shelf/table...then sometimes 're-pot' them. I lost a few nice ones that way.
Many orchids do hate to be moved. Each time, they need to adapt and that causes stress. If other conditions are not perfect, they begin to suffer. If they are growing roots and are moved, the rubbing on the medium on the tender new roots can kill the new roots. If you don't have a good, permanent place for them, you might want to consider growing under T5HO lights. That way, you can stick them in a dark corner away from the kids and everything else and not need to keep moving them. I just started growing my orchids all on shelves under the lights and I am getting some really nice results.
Also, if you are having root problems, you might want to try red lava rock or LECA and basket pots. That way, you don't really need to worry about over-watering them or the medium rotting and holding more water. I discovered early on that I could not grow in bark so, in the days before you could find vendors on the internet (the dark ages), I decided to try the red lava rock I saw offered for landscaping and...amazingly, I started to have roots that did not rot. For the newer orchids, I usually use LECA as I am buying mostly smaller orchids since I don't have much space. The LECA fits together nicely which is good for the smaller roots. I still use basket pots for everything.
Good luck and I hope you figure it all out. I have always grown things but it took me a little time to figure out the orchids. It is quite worth it, though, as they are really unique and beautiful.

Just when I thought I was the only person in the world with kids and plants!! Lol.

Yes I do see that my orchids grow good roots in my lava rock. But since the lava rock moves when I water it this doesn't work to my advantage and sometimes the roots break.

Don't get me wrong my plans so root well. My constant moving due to rearranging and my kids trying to be good gardeners isn't helping either .

I will also be moving to a new location in June so this might change as well. Hopefully they will get a more dedicated area!

I will look into the lights ! Even thou it's nice to see them dispersed throughout the house.

I appreciate your help!