Cattleya lover South Africa

[Georgevw]

Hi all,
I’m a South African Cattleya lover relatively new to the hobby with some questions. This message will serve asa test as I am also new to this Forum. Hope to start chatting to you all soon.
Sincerely,
Georgevw

[Dollythehun]

Welcome, Georgevw! Start asking those questions!

[Mountaineer370]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

[Georgevw]

I recently built a shade house in my yard. I covered the entire shade house with 80% green shade cloth as my region in South Africa is extremely sunny and extremely hot and my shade house receives direct sunlight from about 07h00 to 17:30. Do you think that the “high light” conditions under 80% shade cloth would be adequate or should I go with a lower percentage shade cloth?

[Dollythehun]

I used black but I am not in your climate. I believe Ray suggests aluminum but, I do not remember the percentage. You might want to ask this question in a new thread.

[Georgevw]

Thank you so much Dollythehun, I will definitely do so

[Fairorchids]

For Cattleyas, you need high light conditions, and 80% shade cloth is definitely too much shade.

We don't know where you are in South Africa, but J'burg is 26 deg S and Capetown 33 deg S. This is equivalent to Miami (25N) and Charleston, SC (33N) respectively.

I normally recommend 35-45% shade for Cattleyas, and I have proven that when hardened carefully and watered enough, they can be grown in full sun in NJ (41N).

[Georgevw]

Thank you so much for the advice @ Fairorchids.