monn millenium culture advice/help

[Roberta]

Also an advantage of Catasetinae... ugly leaves will be gone next fall, and then life begins anew.

[hypostatic]

I'm still trying to get a quantitative grip on the actual light intensity levels I'm getting... I have an analog light meter, but it's hard to read in the 2,500 to 10,000 FC range... which is where I care about the most lol. The LUX part is a bit easier to read, so maybe I'll just look there instead...

I've been trying to go digital to get a more accurate read. I ordered one digital light meter, but it arrived damaged. I ordered a second different meter, but it was reading 13,000 FC at 3pm... which is impossible lol.

The nice thing about the analog meter is that I can calibrate it. Still hoping to go digital though -- anyone have any good/cheap recommendations?

Originally Posted by Roberta

Time for the shade cloth. The sun is getting pretty intense, so they'll still get plenty of light with the shading, you don't want to toast any more of them.

*sigh* Yeah, it's been ordered, but now I need to wait for it to come in... guess it's indoors for the catasetums until then...

Originally Posted by isurus79

Ouch! At least you know their maximum tolerance now. They weren't acclimated very long to this level of sun, right?

Yeah, they had been outside during the daytime for about a week until then, but I guess the sun intensity hadn't been as great as that one day. At least now I have conclusive data haha.

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

Sorry you had to learn this way...
I have a lot of experience making odd shaped shades. On me if you need help
And don’t worry. Nothing looks more than cosmetic. All those should survive easily

Yeah, I'm not too worried. A couple of spots on leaves never hurt anyone.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by hypostatic

I'm still trying to get a quantitative grip on the actual light intensity levels I'm getting... I have an analog light meter, but it's hard to read in the 2,500 to 10,000 FC range... which is where I care about the most lol. The LUX part is a bit easier to read, so maybe I'll just look there instead...

I've been trying to go digital to get a more accurate read. I ordered one digital light meter, but it arrived damaged. I ordered a second different meter, but it was reading 13,000 FC at 3pm... which is impossible lol.

The nice thing about the analog meter is that I can calibrate it. Still hoping to go digital though -- anyone have any good/cheap recommendations?

The enemy here is really heat on the leaves. If they get a blast of direct sun, there is likely a hot spot... so if the leaf is warm to the touch, you're in the danger zone. That dagger of sunlight can be fairly small - and transitory. The downside of depending on a meter is that you're getting an average, while the problem is a potentially localized extreme. I also learned the hard way... this year, the shade cloth went up before the plants moved outside. (Last year some got toasted - shifting sun angle can also bite you in the backside)

[DirtyCoconuts]

i just learned that you also have to account for your neighbors growing trees and CUTTING them...i lost a huge portion of my shade from the neighbor's house when they decided to clean their sea grape to a pole!
i went outside (thank goodness) early enough in the day to see they were cooking but i got a few scorched leaves

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

i just learned that you also have to account for your neighbors growing trees and CUTTING them...i lost a huge portion of my shade from the neighbor's house when they decided to clean their sea grape to a pole!
i went outside (thank goodness) early enough in the day to see they were cooking but i got a few scorched leaves

Oh man, that sucks!

[DirtyCoconuts]

could have been sooo much worse but i was shocked...i walked out of the slider and i could tell something was way different LOL

[hypostatic]

Status on 5/04/2020:



Current status:

[DirtyCoconuts]

looks good-

keep a eye on that pbulb that is yellowing, not a problem but if it gets mushy you might think about doing a cut with a clean razor and cinnamon it.

nothing out of the ordinary and nothing needed now...just watch it

[hypostatic]

Hmmm so I've noticed some ants enjoying the happy sap on the leaves. Should I worry about them potentially trying to eat my orchids?

[Roberta]

Ants don't harm the plants... HOWEVER, they often "farm" aphids, which certainly do. They'll even carry aphids to the plants. The aphids suck on the orchid plant (doing their damage), and the honeydew that they excrete is what the ants like. So... ants can be bad news indirectly. Time for some ant traps.