No Direct Sun for Phals?

[Floridan by Choice]

Yesterday I moved the growing table I have out on the lanai to a little brighter area . I noticed this morning that I get some direct early morning sunlight from the East that fall on the phals.

I read somewhere that there should be "no" direct sunlight on the phals, but I think the author was talking about raising them in the house with the pots stuck in a window with not much air movement:

Is the statement that there should be no direct sunlight on phals true in all cases? Or should I be looking to rearrange the lanai furniture again..

I did put up a shade on that side of the lanai this afternoon so I can now leave the phals right where they are and just raise and lower that shade but I still have the same question. No direct sunlight ever?

[Call_Me_Bob]

direct sun can be different at different times of day. my phals when they are outside, get an hour or two of early morning sun, then shade the rest of the day. but i acclimate them to that slowly. i guess what im trying to say is that you will have to play around with it a little and keep a close eye on them. a good rule is, if the leaf is warm/hot its not getting enough water to keep up with what its using. so if the sun is too bright for them, the eaves will get warm like that. and thats when you can tell you either need to water more often move them to less light. the real test will be if the media is still moist and doesnt need watering, but the leaves are warm. then i would move them

[Paul Mc]

That's not completely accurate. I have mine in direct morning Nd even some in direct evening light and they are fine. Air flow does help keep them cool though, and a few I have had to move because they didn't like it, but many seem to be fine with brief amounts (1 to 2 hours) of direct light. Just keep your eye on them for any damage or issues. Of the leaves are getting warm then it's too much for them.

[Call_Me_Bob]

Originally Posted by Paul Mc

That's not completely accurate. I have mine in direct morning Nd even some in direct evening light and they are fine. Air flow does help keep them cool though, and a few I have had to move because they didn't like it, but many seem to be fine with brief amounts (1 to 2 hours) of direct light. Just keep your eye on them for any damage or issues. Of the leaves are getting warm then it's too much for them.

i would say though, that you want to avoid the hot mid-day sun

[Paul Mc]

Very true!!!

[Paul Mc]

And during the summer and hotter times I do remove them from any direct light. It's just too much for them.

[Call_Me_Bob]

Originally Posted by Paul Mc

And during the summer and hotter times I do remove them from any direct light. It's just too much for them.

your right, it definitely depends on the season!

i say give it a try but keep a close eye on them. you should be able to move them before any real damage or burnign occurcs

[NYCorchidman]

I grow mine a few inches to a few foot away from the large bay window.

Morning sun is fine. Just avoid from about 11 or noonish when the sun gets stronger and the heat builds up more.

Phals take a lot more light than many think.
The brighter the light, the better the flower show. This is the key element!

I expose mine in either morning or late afternoon sun. direct sun filtered by the window glass and no harm done ever!

If grown outside, I would definitely shade them with the exception of early morning sun or late late afternoon sun.
Remember the brightest possible light just short of burning the leaves bring the best flowering!

[Call_Me_Bob]

they can take more light then most think, but thy must be acclimated slowly to high levels.

[tom_e_boi]

I kept my Phals on my South-facing back porch where they received some direct sunlight during the early morning hours. But around 10:30-11:00 they were already partially covered up by the shade of the trees, where they only received dappled sunlight during the hottest part of the day. Then, they would even receive a couple hours of direct evening sunlight before the Sun would set. But as others have pointed out, they were slowly acclimated to this bright light, and were sheltered from the hot midday Sun. The direct light they did receive was only during the early morning and late evening when it was always angled and less intense.

Then, during the hottest part of Summer, when the Sun's the furthest north of the equator that it gets, I had to move my Phals back underneath the shade of my back porch because the shadows of the trees no longer covered them. So they still received morning and evening Sun, but were still shaded during the hottest part of the day. Tho they did receive some very bright indirect light during those hours when the Sun's rays would hit the porch underneath the table that I had them on and radiate back upwards. I do however want to reiterate that this was only indirect light during the middle of the day. The only time they received any direct Sun was during the early morning and late evening hours.

Of course, I had to keep them well watered, which was quite often and even daily during the Summer months. As long as they were kept from drying out too much or for too long, they seemed to stay pretty happy and even stayed in bloom for most of the year. I even noticed one of my Phals that stayed in bloom the longest has even tried sending out yet another bud, but it seems to have stalled for now, now that it's beginning to cool off, and it hasn't gotten any bigger.

I haven't had any cases of sunburn all year and all my 'chids seem to be happy, so hopefully I'm doing something right, lol. Seeing as I gave them as much sunlight as possible, I'm hoping for yet another year full of blooms from them.