Sun/Lighting - Just can't seem to get it right! :(

[butterfly_muse]

Originally Posted by trdyl

Hi,

I have Cattleyas in a West window sill right up against the glass for several years and nothing filtering the sun except for the clear glass pane. They get direct sun between 2pm and 8 to 9pm. Also the highest temps I have measured there is 112 and the lowest being 40. Once they get use to that much light the do not burn. But if they are adjusted to be growing at lower levels they should be introduced to that much light gradually.

How do you adjust them gradually? I work during the day and go to school so I'm not home to shuffle them around except for around 6:00 in the morning and 4:30 in the afternoon, lol. Should I move them away and place them in the window later in the day, or move them away when the sun gets really warm later in the day, or...??

[trdyl]

I would start off with them in the window with the sheer that you have. After a couple of weeks start giving them direct sun in the same window for an hour to start off with. Just move the sheer on the other side of the plant about an hour before sundown. Then after another week and another hour of direct sun by the time you've added 4 hours of direct sun. It should be accustomed to getting direct sun the entire time. Just watch out for sun burn in the transition period.

[Orchid126]

I live in NJ and my catts are outside and get direct sun from early morning until noon, and then partial sun the rest of the day. The ones that turn purple gradually go back to their normal light green when they come back inside in the fall, but they are also the ones that bloom their fool heads off all winter. Purple isn't bad, as long as the leaf stays healthy.

I agree with White Rabbit. This business of no direct sun is not for the mid Atlantic states, but rather for those southern and western parts of the country where the sun is very, very hot or shade loving plants, not cattleyas.

[butterfly_muse]

Originally Posted by Orchid126

I live in NJ and my catts are outside and get direct sun from early morning until noon, and then partial sun the rest of the day. The ones that turn purple gradually go back to their normal light green when they come back inside in the fall, but they are also the ones that bloom their fool heads off all winter. Purple isn't bad, as long as the leaf stays healthy.

This business of no direct sun is not for the mid Atlantic states, but rather for those southern and western parts of the country where the sun is very, very hot.

Ahhh, yes, that would make more sense. My fiance actually said something similar to me about that last night while we were discussing outdoor photographs for our wedding (it's in the fall when the sun sets oh so early)...I just didn't make a connection between that and the plants, lol!