Sunlight exposition

[manou]

Hi everybody!
My husband bought me a phalaenopsis recently. I never took care of any orchids but I did some research to be aware of their needs. I know that they don't like too much direct sunlight. My question is: Is it ok if my plant receives 2 hours direct sun(between 4pm and 6pm) in a west window and bright light the rest of the day?
Thank you for your answers!
Dina
Miami, FL

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Feel the leaves. Don't let them get more than luke warm. If the room is warm, it will probably be too much light. So, as the seasons progress, you really have to be checking regularly.

[Sharyn]

Manou: I have several Phals. on the west windowsill. The window has a blind that I usually tip upwards to prevent direct sunlight. I did once burn a leaf touching the blinds, so use caution to keep the leaves away from the slats or touching the glass. On cloudy days, I just open up the blinds a bit more. From my experience, a little late afternoon sun is fine as long as it's not 95-100F outside. These are the best growing orchids I have right now.

[manou]

Thank you so much for your replies.
I felt the leaves, they are very lightly warm.

[mayres]

If you keep them near sunlight a little air movement will go a long way in helping keep your leaves cool. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to place a fan for one orchid, but if/as your collection increases you might consider placing a small fan in the area on low to provide cooling and otherwise give your orchids fresh air.

[Anton]

While we are on the subject of Phal leaves, do they tend to droop a little when the get large ?

As this is my first Phal, I am on a steep learning curve with it, and I noticed on the weekend that the bottom large leaves are starting to droop a little, but otherwise look healthy and green.

If need be I can post an image, but didn't feel it was necessary at this stage.

Sorry to highjack this posting, but thought it may be related.

[mayres]

I would agree that a few droopy leaves are no cause for alarm - it may be a combination of genetics and/or having gone through a period of slight stress. Most of my phals that have been under my care all have very stiff non-droopy leaves that stick out like a board. However a few of them, under exactly the same conditions have a "stiff" droopy leaf or two - there is droop and then there is "droop" too - do you mean soft pliable droopy or what appears droopy but is actually quite stiff? If the leaves are soft and floppy-droopy this can be a first sign of needing more water - from inadequate watering or the converse (root rot) - too much watering. Chances are yours are just fine/normal. Enjoy! mike

[Sharyn]

Anton: With the extreme heat you've been having, maybe your phal. is stressed. These are a couple of my phals. on the west windowsill. No bottom droopy leaves, however, the upper leaves are quite a bit larger and they definitely are drooping. They're all quite healthy and in bud or bloom. Perhaps it's their genetics. If it's something else, it doesn't bother me as long as they're healthy. (P.S. yes, that's still snow out the window!)
I've attached in interesting article regarding droopy leaves on phals. Once you get there, just scroll down to the answer section. http://en.allexperts.com/q/Orchids-7...ing-leaves.htm

[Anton]

Mike n Sharyn here are 2 views of my Phal. I am now wondering if it may be under slight stress from being repotted after your suggestions.

I have changed to a coir / perlite mix and it is retaining moisture more than the original bark mix and sits on a humidity bowl which also may be why its retaining the moisture.

There is no problem with heat, as our house has ducted, refrigerated air conditioning and hasn't been over 70F all through summer.

The leaves are still stiff and not limp......thank God.

[mayres]

That actually looks pretty healthy - leaves look just a touch red which would indicate it is on the border of maximum light. My guess is the slight floppiness is nothing more than a sign of PREVIOUS stress that it was under. Hope you will find coir as great for your phals as I have thus far - just be careful not to overwater. Also, don't worry about the heat for your phals - they LOVE IT. Commercial growers that are growing phals for market actually keep their greenhouses 82-90 degrees for maximum phal growth! Enjoy. mike

[Anton]

Thanks Mike, I can relax now.

This is my first Phal, and I don't want to lose it just yet.

Had 2 great spikes last season and they lasted about 4 months.

[mayres]

Anton -
On another side light (you will see the pun as you read!), I see that you have a clear pot. I have actually read that the roots have a tendency to stay in the pot better with clear pots (which is a good thing for phals) - I have a few of mine in clear as well and will be watching over the next year to see if that indeed proves to be true for me in my conditions.

[Anton]

This one hasn't had any tendancy to leave he pot, my problem is that I am having difficulty sourcing clear pots here in Adelaide so that as it grows I can put it into a bigger condo.

Also, did you notice the "Cynthia Skewer" under one of the leaves ?

[mayres]

Give it a little while - if your acts anything like all my phals - there will soon be roots going everywhere - in and out of the pot. I have a skewer or two in mine too - but I've found that after a few weeks I can generally tell where the media is by how heavy the pot feels when I lift it up - compared to when I watered. Using the skewer as a gauge I've been able to go three weeks without watering using coir (during the cool winter months). My first couple phals were in a peat mix by a local grower and I learned the hard way that I SHOULD have been using the skewer method from the start - I watered them like I was watering a plant in bark and managed to nearly kill them from root rot. Still in the learning process, but hopefully "learning" (?) something different each time! mike

[Anton]

I have found in the short time of using coir/perlite mix that it does retain water a lot longer than just a plain bark mix.

So the "Snitz Skewers" are helping me with the learning process too in deciding when to water. Usually it is every 3 days with bark, but I am up to day five with this new mix. The skewer was still quite damp when I took those pictures last night.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I also now have the Phal pot sitting on a small humidity tray (experiment), and feel this may also be helping in the water retaining process, but not sure yet.