Restrepia Cuprea Light Requirements

[judyzhusf]

Hi all, I've found that restrepia actually can take a bit of higher light but I don't have a light meter to really guage that. I do know that this cuprea Ive had for two weeks has bloomed and the leaves turned more purple than when it came from Andy's Orchids.

Should I move it further away or is the purpling of the both front and back of each leaf fine for this species?

It is probably 8 inches to the low light botanical LED tube

[estación seca]

I don't grow this but I wouldn't let it get so purple. Making the pigment is a sign of stress, and that's a lot of purple.

[Roberta]

It does look like it's getting toasted. Most Restrepias like to be on the shady (and cool and damp) side.
Blooming 2 weeks after you got it, it was already on the way. In fact. if you are in SF, it would be very happy outside.

[Keysguy]

A purple shading in cuprea is natural and is even evident in plants growing in situ in fairly deep shade.

As was mentioned above, Restrepia are lower story plants and therefor tilt heavily toward shade more so than light. To be safe, I'd back off the light quite a bit for a few weeks and then maybe gradually introduce and expose (harden) it to higher lights but don't get carried away. I doubt it will improve blooming. The sun doesn't get very bright in a cloud forest. At least not for much more than a few minutes at a time most of the year.

[judyzhusf]

Thanks! It came with really purple tips from andys green house, but it was just a section. It was spreading all over under my lights so I definitely pushed it back several inches toward the wall away from the light.