S/H culture and the Sun/heat

[Pilot]

I grow all of my orchids (mostly phals) in s/h and they have been doing extremely well-- every single one of them has bloomed for me and are growing strong and healthy.

However, i recently moved to a new home and though I'm appreciative of the sun room, I'm finding it difficult to regulate and control the temp. In Colorado, our sun is awfully intense and can heat up a glass room, even with very cold temps outside, very easily.

I have my plants on a tall wire rack, like those you find in the restaurant industry. And late in the day, near sunset, the pots get direct sun. I noticed that the pots can get pretty warm.

What can do I to protect my plants and ward off the excess heat to the clear plastic pots?

Also, how warm is too warm for these plants (again, mostly phals)? So far, I see no negative effects but I really don't want to kill off roots because of excessive heat.

Thank you.

[orchidmtius]

Dear pilot,
I hope the following can help you:
1) Try to put some bucket of water under your shelves.
2) Locate where do the sun rays get in your growing room in the afternoon and put a 60% shade cloth there.
3) You can also put a fan near your shelves. The sun rays won't get enough time to heat the pots with the air movement of the fan around your pots.
Best regards

[Ray]

FWIW, I have never seen an issue with pots overheating, as long as there is water in them.

Phals like it pretty warm anyway - I always use bottom heat when getting plants established, and the pots can be as high as 85° or 90°.

[Pilot]

Thanks to the both of you. I will have to look into shade cloth. I've been meaning to get some as moving my other plants outside has proven difficult under the Colorado sun, figuring if they had shade cloth, it would make the transition easier with less leaf burning.

Ray-- its good to know the phals enjoy the heat. Their pots are noticeably warmer/hotter to the touch and so that is why I worried about them. You see, I have had so much success with applying your s/h method to all of my other plants as well and there are some, like hippeastrum (amaryllis) bulbs that don't always like the heat around their roots, though, a heating mat seems to do wonders to get them started.

Thanks again for your help and insight!