Orchid Newbie Room Lighting Evaluation
 

Hi everyone,

I am in the infancy stages of my orchid research and knowing that many species require a fair amount of lighting I was hoping to upload a picture of the space I intend to use for the plants for you (the experts) to evaluate.

I had two "Deck rail," style plant hangers made for my banister / spindles that will be hanging from my loft into the area above my living room. The orchids will be approximately 10" from the wall.

The lighting in the first picture is an accurate representation of what the room actually looks like today here in NE Pennsylvania at around 12:30 on an overcast day.

The lighting in the second picture came out a bit brighter than what it appears to the eye.

The large windows on either side of the fireplace are north facing.

As a side note, our home is heated solely by coal and is quite dry. I've got a hygrometer on order to measure the humidity, though, I'm sure this will play into my future success for caring for orchids.

Any recommendations for a "Trailing," orchid would go much appreciated as well. The vision here is to have a few orchids hanging down into my living / kitchen area from the loft.

My most sincere thanks for your time in responding to my questions! Go easy!



-Mike.


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From the pic it looks like it's more than 10 feet, like close to 15-20 maybe? Well anyway sorry to nit-pick, in my opinion the fact that its a north window combined with the distance is gonna mean really minimal light levels for your plants. PA is on a high latitude which means darker winters. If you wanna be more certain, buy an inexpensive light meter so you can really zero in on those light levels.

On top of that, the coal heat probably means your place is very dry. Those humidity readings will come in very handy.

If you would like orchids to grow well and flower, I think you are going to need to have them within a few feet of the window, and you will probably need to surround them with glass to increase humidity, either in a decorative container or a full-scale terrarium. Hey, could be gorgeous in those big windows :)

Final verdict for your specified location (and forgive my bluntness): Too dim and too dry.

---------- Post added at 08:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:58 PM ----------

BUT !!! TRY IT OUT by all means if you are determined to know if it will work. The easiest way would be to buy some cheap phalaenopses and keep them well watered during the dry months. If the leaves are dark green and they don't bloom (don't forget it can be up to a year and a half before store-bought plants rebloom) you will know that it is too dark for them. Once you get the hang of it then you can try other orchids. I would suggest some oncidium hybrids as well but they need a LOT of light (maybe supplement with artificial?) to produce that big beautiful "trailing" effect you are looking for.

And just to throw another idea out there, that east window next to the TV could be a great place, but again maintaining humidity will be a crucial factor in your success.