Habenaria radiata- am I doing it right?

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by JScott

True, we haven't hit 100 yet in Texas, and that's definitely coming. When it's that hot, the water pan may be necessary. Do you think it woud prefer like Oncidium light more than Catt light? I read some mixed reviews about how much light these guys need, and none of the people who wrote these articles were growing them in Texas.

I think more like Oncidium. I grow both H. medusa and H. dentata on the shady side (I'd call it "bright shade") and that's in coastal southern California. The leaves are pretty thin (as compared to hard, succulent Cattleya leaves) so I would be concerned about the Habenarias toasting if they got zapped by sun rays even for a little while.

I had to "calibrate" the interpretation of the tags on plants coming from Andy's Orchids... I recall one labeled "FS" for full sun... and I managed to burn it. Then I made a visit to the nursery... no place gets really "full sun" for more than a few hours, due to lots of mature trees. Conversely, my yard runs east-west so gets blazing all day, especially in summer. Different "full sun". Different effect.