That being said, I have also seen them on dead slash pines and the bare branches of slash pines (Pinus elliottii) so they can definitely take full sun though some protection is probably better

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People take me to the movies sometimes, but that doesn't mean I like it.

Every year we have what is called tropical nights (above 25ºC / 77 F) but the extent of that period varies. It may happen for a week, 2 weeks, a month...anyway, it gets cooler if we compare with day temps but it never gets cool, somewhere between 64,4~71,6 F (18ºC~22ºC)

Bright indirect light as a catt might be what they need.

The tropical nights you mention are similar to summer weather in Florida some of the times I've been there. The night cooling you mention is good.

I believe what really matters is the amplitude of the range between day max/night min, at least for the majority of the plants.

I think it's not the amplitude of the swing, but the temperature going down at night to the temperature range at which succulent carbon dioxide fixing enzymes operate well. This varies among plants. Somewhere in the range of 15-20C seems good for a lot of American epiphytes.

Hot days and cool nights is the key! It's about 96-98 during the day here then gets down to about 70-69 during the night... all my plants thrive well off this daily change in temperature


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Not necessarily for tampensis
They grow in Miami as well and Miami will get a drop of 5-10 F at night with the humidity making it feel like even less

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estación seca, in my experience the typical Encyclia is somewhat more tolerant of dryness during the growing season than the typical Cattleya. And by Encyclia I mean those with spherical pseudobulbs as opposed to species like cochleata.

SFLguy, nice flask! Have you ever tried sowing the seeds directly on the trees?

This has not been my experience. Mine suffer if I let them dry out completely in pots, or don't water mounts every day. This is especially so when making new growth, which dies quickly if I don't water them enough.