Last week I made a few changes to the orchid setup in my apartment. I did some reading up on Phalaenopsis orchids and determined that mine might be getting too much light in my very bright southern-facing windows. A couple of them have a red tinge around the edge of the leaves, which is a sign of too much light. And as I recently posted, a couple of my Phals are in pretty bad shape.
I decided to do a little rearranging and see whether the altered light source helps at all. According to some orchid experts, eastern exposure is acceptable for Phals. I don’t have a straight up eastern-facing window, but the northern-facing window at the front of my apartment is actually a bay window that gets some pretty good light from the east in the morning. So I moved four of my Phals to my desk in the front room:
I did, however, leave three of my Phals (along with my Zygopetalum) in the bedroom where they get southern exposure. I left them there because they each seem to be thriving in that light, whereas the other four that I moved didn’t seem to be doing that wonderfully in that room.
In the kitchen (also southern exposure) I have my Oncidium, Odontoglossum, Dendrobiums, and Tolumnia on the counter:
And higher up on top of a cabinet are both of my lady slippers. I’ve placed them there so that they don’t get blasted by the sun.
All of these photos look pretty dark because I took them with my iPhone and it’s really overcast today. On a sunny day there is a whole lot more light in my place, I promise!
I’m curious to see how these changes affect my orchids, if at all. For me it’s all about experimentation till I find the right conditions – at least, the best conditions that I can get with my limited sun exposure options. If only I could afford a crazy light bulb setup! Ahhh…one can dream.
3 comments
I would like to know how does the red tinge at the edge of the leaves look like? My orchids are kept outdoor not directly under the sun and we are hot all year round, so far so good.
I found this image on a blog called Growing Greener:
You can see the reddish-purple-y tinge around the edge & even some blotches on the leaves themselves. And the color of the leaves is a little dark, which can be another sign that the orchid is getting too much light. Healthy leaves should be a nice grassy green. Hope that helps! 🙂
Thank for posting the pic of reddish leaves. Now I know what’s happening to mine….