Light Questions - What Exactly do the recommendations mean?

[LobsterOfJustice]

Hi,
What exactly do the recommendations for light mean?

For example, the AOS recommends that phals get 1,000-1,500 foot candles.

Does this mean they need an average of 1,000-1,500? So the way the light may actually break down would be like 500 foot candles for 2 hours, then 1,000 foot candles for a total of 5 hours, then 1500 foot candles for 3 hours, and 3,000 foot candles for the remaining 2 hours, which provides an average of 1,250 foot candles for the day, which is within the 1,000-1,500 recommendation.

OR

Is the recommendation the min/max light? Which would mean that phals need somewhere between 1,000 foot candles and 1,500 foot candles all day, so the breakdown of light above wouldn't work because there would be a few hours where the light isn't strong enough, and a few hours where the light is too strong.


Also, what does the max mean? I saw somewhere that the max for a phal is around 3,000 foot candles. Does this mean that anything more than 3,000 foot candles will cause sunburn/sun damage on the plant, no matter how long the plant is exposed to that light?

OR

Does this mean that 3,000 is the max average that the plant should receive? Meaning the plant can actually have much higher than 3,000 foot candles as long as it's not sustained for long, so for example, 30 minutes at 6,000 foot candles would be OK as long as it's no longer than that and the average for the day doesn't go above 3,000?

I have a light meter and am trying to make sense of the readings I'm getting. In mid-day sun, my phals might get 3,500 foot candles, but only for 2-3 hours, and for the rest of the day, it varies between 100 and 2000.