Lumens for my new phalaenopsis
 

My wife and I got an orchid, our first !

Our two possible placements are in the same vaulted room with bright windows on the south wall. The attached JPG shows the locations.

Using my iPhone, the lumen readings are 2,000 to 2,100 on the table by the window. The other possible table is 21 feet away, across the room from the windows. The lumen reading there is about 550.

Recommendations on placement ?

Thanks,
Clark

Darn !! And I thought that would be an easy question for an orchid expert. My bad....

This place is slow to respond on a lot of questions so I wouldn’t take it personally. That said, I’d go with the window placement.

Sorry, I'm just seeing this for the first time. While I do not consider myself an expert, I have grown Phals for five years now and, while they are often touted as low-light orchids, mine have always done better with more, not less, light. I would put it close to the big window, but still protecting it from too much direct sunlight.

JMO!

Is your orchid a phal?

Hopefully I can offer a little help in regards to lux, but not with lumens. A couple of conversion tables you might like to reference if interested (lumens to lux) Lumens to lux (lx) conversion calculator, and then maybe lux to ppfd Convert Lux to PPFD - Online Calculator | Waveform Lighting

If your orchid is a Phalenopsis, I can say that I have grown them in ambient light spill (coming from light fixtures used for other orchids). I no longer own a par meter, but do have a lux meter. Measured the lux readings (photos below) and was successful growing & flowering a Phal with low levels of light (817 lux x 10) - plant is wedged in between 2 terrariums.

https://i.imgur.com/TSridKB.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/mIrUb6n.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/UJpwiFi.jpg

Just an opinion (take it with a grain of salt), the word expert is wide open to interpretation. I'm no expert by any means, but I think experts realize there is something new to learn everyday about the things they specialize in.

Wait a minute. Lumens aren't even the correct units.

According to the AOS culture guide, phalaenopsis should receive a maximum of 1000-1500 foot-candles at noon in a greenhouse. That would translate to a continuous, artificial-light level of 500-750 FC.

A foot-candle is a lumen per square foot.

hahah... my first thoughts!

You can also install free apps on your smartphone to measure your light intensity with pretty good accuracy, depending on the smartphone. I've used "Lux Light Meter" on the pixel.

How does that calculation get made?

lumens are a correct unit but not for measuring the light for plants. Wisdomseeker was quite correct in pointing out you need expensive equipment to measure the lux level which is the amount of light that plants can use for photosynthesis.

The free apps on iphones measuring lumen are the amount of light the human eye can see and although not pointless I have not had much success with them as my best grow lights that produce great growth for plants have a low lumen reading for visible light humans can see.

I am suspecting by the need for an immediate answer that we will never see the original poster, Clark, ever again but in case he does come back I will mention the way I check where to stick my plants.

Generally wherever I can find the most sun without burning the plants is where I stick my plants. Instead of using light meters I use temperature meters.

A temperature meter should not be placed in the sun because the sun warms up the thermometer giving a "false" reading but I do this to see how hot the thermometer gets in a spot through the sun - If it goes over 32 degrees C then it is too hot and either needs a different spot or more shading.

Generally, the more light the better! Next to a window will also allow it to get the cold snap it needs in the winter to form a new spike.