I love Florida but learning to garden and grow things here is different from most other places in the US and can be challenging. Here are some general tips from my experiences.
Right now you can get away with full sun, but by the end of April you will find the sun is extremely hot-especially between 10am and 2pm. By mid-summer even the sun at 5 pm can burn you and your plants. You will absolutely have to provide some sort of shade, even if it is just under a tree. I use shade cloth and do not hang my orchids in trees because the squirrels wreak havoc on them. I am not familiar with the type of stone you mentioned, but the stone will also likely heat up in the sun and dry out much faster than it does right now.
Once the summer rain pattern starts (which used to be predictable, but is no longer), you will probably not need to water your orchids much at all. You will need to monitor for signs of overwatering and adjust your media as needed. The stone option might be an advantage. You will also need to monitor for signs of fungus and rot as temperatures seldom go below 75 during the nights of June/July/August/Sept and humidity goes way up at night. A fan can be helpful to keep the air moving.
Spring time is the dry season, which is what we are experiencing right now. Dry days and cooler nights. What we wait for all year!
Then hurricane season runs from Jun 1 to Nov 30, so you will also want to be sure to formulate a hurricane plan for yourself, your outdoor orchids and your pets!
You might want to check out Martin Motes books on growing orchids in Florida and the St Augustine Orchid Society has a really good website full of info.
St. Augustine Orchid Society - North Florida Orchid Growing
Welcome to Florida!
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