Bright Light vs Full Sun

[Bulbopedilum]

Whats the difference between these two?

[Subrosa]

Big difference. Consider the front of my house. It faces SE and has an overhang. Plants placed under the overhang will catch sun early in the morning, but by 9 or 10 are technically in the shade. But the sun is blazing only inches away most of the day and large amounts of reflected light hits the plants there. That's bright light. Plants in the middle of my lawn get direct, unobstructed sunlight from just after sunrise until 230 -3 in the afternoon. That's pretty much full sun.

[Optimist]

The absolute definitive answer would be to use a light meter. Full sun can be up to 10,000or even more. That will cook an orchid quickly. Bright shade/bright light (where some orchids thrive) is about 2000-5000 FC if in the USA-- not sure what the LUX number is, I think you add a decimal somewhere. 2000-5000 is still "shaded by tree" kind of light.

Lux and FC are measurements of the "strength" of the light, not the PAR color mixture.

I wonder if there is a FC-Lux chart of Ideal light for various orchids.

Most homes and offices run around 250-500 FC. At a South facing window with no obstruction, you can get 1500-2000FC.

The thing about light that I have learned is that people and plants use light for totally different things. To people, it is about seeing, to plants it is about the quality of food they get. Light is not just a nicety for a plant, it is an important part of that plant's food source. It has to be the correct level for the plant to thrive. I think some people forget this, and think only that light is for them, so they can see the flowers better. To reduce the light of a plant that needs more light is to "starve" it, in a way, and often, that is when you should have some artificial grow lights involved.

[Subrosa]

Originally Posted by Optimist

The absolute definitive answer would be to use a light meter. Full sun can be up to 10,000or even more. That will cook an orchid quickly. Bright shade/bright light (where some orchids thrive) is about 2000-5000 FC if in the USA-- not sure what the LUX number is, I think you add a decimal somewhere. 2000-5000 is still "shaded by tree" kind of light.

Lux and FC are measurements of the "strength" of the light, not the PAR color mixture.

I wonder if there is a FC-Lux chart of Ideal light for various orchids.

Most homes and offices run around 250-500 FC. At a South facing window with no obstruction, you can get 1500-2000FC.

The thing about light that I have learned is that people and plants use light for totally different things. To people, it is about seeing, to plants it is about the quality of food they get. Light is not just a nicety for a plant, it is an important part of that plant's food source. It has to be the correct level for the plant to thrive. I think some people forget this, and think only that light is for them, so they can see the flowers better. To reduce the light of a plant that needs more light is to "starve" it, in a way, and often, that is when you should have some artificial grow lights involved.

My Catasetum and Cymbidium sit in the middle of my lawn getting full sun all summer long after gradual acclimation. But I live almost directly on the 40th parallel. Full sun in FL on the 30th parallel is a completely different thing.

[katrina]

Originally Posted by Subrosa

My Catasetum and Cymbidium sit in the middle of my lawn getting full sun all summer long after gradual acclamation. But I live almost directly on the 40th parallel. Full sun in FL on the 30th parallel is a completely different thing.

Yep, same here! My ctsm, rupics laelia, cyrtopodium, and a few other sit in full, once acclimated. And. nope, OH isn't exactly a tropical zone but there are some orchids that grow in full sun in their native habitats. Cyrtos do for sure and that's probably why I haven't been able to bloom the damn things.

[Subrosa]

Originally Posted by katrina

Yep, same here! My ctsm, rupics laelia, cyrtopodium, and a few other sit in full, once acclimated. And. nope, OH isn't exactly a tropical zone but there are some orchids that grow in full sun in their native habitats. Cyrtos do for sure and that's probably why I haven't been able to bloom the damn things.

You just need to rig up some supplemental lighting outside! Btw your Cyrtopodium wouldn't be a punctatum would it?


Edit: is there any way you could incorporate a white background and possibly reflect more light back to your plant to initiate bloom?

[katrina]

Given that it's almost 43" from bottom of pot to tip of leafless growth and where it sits in the summer...no way to rig reflective anything. When it was in leaf last year...the plant could sit on the ground and the tips of the leaves were nearly as tall as me - 5' 6". If it doesn't bloom soon...i might just light it on fire out of spite for being such a space hog and not giving anything back. You can imagine how difficult it is to accommodate under lights! But, I have been doing it and yet...nuttin'.

As to the species, no, not punctatum...i got rid of that one. This is graniticum. Don't ask me what the blooms should look like because it's been too many years since I saw the pic that made me buy it. I've had it since '08.

[estación seca]

Maybe put the red plastic landscape sheeting, sold to put under tomatoes, under your orchids outside for the summer?

[katrina]

Isn't that tomato stuff more for heat than light? I get plenty of heat in that area due to concrete in close proximity so not sure I'd want to increase the temps over there.

The area is along a fence and the plants sit on shelves...the cyrto leaves grow above the fence. It is a giant plant...and I knew it would get big but I had no clue it would get as big as it has. If I lived in a warmer climate, I would have these in giant pots in the landscape...like palms.

[Subrosa]

Something white instead of red?