Was this good Phal info for beginners?

[Ray]

Originally Posted by blackvine

Ray, “full sun in Des Plaines, IL is a lot less intense than it might be in Houston” is exactly WHY Phals absolutely CAN be placed in a window that gets a few – 2 or 3 hours of direct sun – including in the summer. I’ve seen it.

Exactly, but you apparently missed my comment that your experience may not be pertinent to someone else's situation.

I did say half the strength on the box

and I'll say again that the producers of fertilizers want to sell fertilizer. I have a box of 30-10-10, which lists orchids right on the label, and suggests a tablespoon per gallon every two weeks. For 100 ppm N, a reasonable concentration for someone who feeds once every week or two, you need 1/4 teaspoon of that formula. A tablespoon per gallon would be 2400 ppm N, which will destroy orchid roots.

But . . . for a beginner, weekly/weakly of a big box fert will work to at least bloom the darn thing once. I wanted to keep it EASY.

The trouble with that is that "weakly" has different meanings to different folks.

OK, this is where I COMPLETELY disagree. It doesn’t work because it doesn’t take into account the ambient light. If you put your hand between a flashlight and an orchid in a dark room, you will certainly see a distinct shadow, but it’s a dark room! No, no, no – beginners MUST learn to WATCH their plant. The plant will tell you when it’s reached the upper level of tolerance of light. That is where it needs to be.

You are right - I was thinking about the light from the primary light source, with all other light sources off. Ambient electrical lighting in a typical home environment provides little-, if any additional light to the photosynthesis of the plant. it's that old inverse square law.