North = 5 letter dirty word?

[samgeo]

Hello,

Guilty of buying orchids BEFORE researching their needs. 100% guilty and hanging my head in shame. I face North – I’ll stop here a moment to let you finishing laughing…

Ok… at the moment, I get about ½ hour of sun as it’s rising in the morning. Everything I’ve read says that North = worst window to place an orchid. I feel sick to my stomach every time I read it.

I know… what’s bright to my eyes, may not be bright for orchids…. I get that. But here’s the thing… some of my orchids have grown, spiked and bloomed in my North facing windows. (Cattleya, Cymidium, Zygopetalum (spike w/6 buds right now), Paphiopedilum, Epicylia, Oncidiums, Bellina hybrid, Sedirea japonica, Phragmapedium and Psychopsis.

I know for a fact that I’m facing NORTH, so ??? Could someone please give me the final verdict on North facing windows.

[Subrosa]

Be grateful your plants can't read.

[katrina]

Did you take those bloomers through an entire growing season? If not then the bloom could have been the result of care given prior to your growing the orchid.

If, on the other hand, you grew those plants for a year+ and got blooms...then you have an amazing north facing window. North is ok for some of the really low light plants and even some lower medium light plants if it get reflection off some outside objects...but I've never heard of a catt blooming in a north window. At least this is the case for those of us in the northern hemisphere.

[rbarata]

In my north windows I grow and bloom a den, a miltassia, a paph and lots of cymbs.
Without blooming yet (too young plants) I grow a stanhopea, an oncidium, a zigo, a bletilla and what I think is a xylobium.
I take advantage of the light reflected from white buildings in front of it (in front but far 300 m).

[samgeo]

Originally Posted by katrina

Did you take those bloomers through an entire growing season? If not then the bloom could have been the result of care given prior to your growing the orchid.

If, on the other hand, you grew those plants for a year+ and got blooms...then you have an amazing north facing window. North is ok for some of the really low light plants and even some lower medium light plants if it get reflection off some outside objects...but I've never heard of a catt blooming in a north window. At least this is the case for those of us in the northern hemisphere.

Yes, they bloomed last year, and again this year. My window is huge and I'm on the 7th floor of my building, with an unobstructed view for miles and miles. Also, and this might not be relevant, but maybe it is.... my closets are mirrored. I'm thinking maybe it helps bounce light back onto the orchids? Maybe???

[jkofferdahl]

Interesting. Where I live, "North" is certainly a dirty word! Maybe for different reasons....

The window is huge and you're on a 7th floor where it is unobstructed. I can only figure that between the lack of obstruction and the size of the window, despite the exposure it is getting enough in terms of length and overall intensity. Somehow.

I have no idea is this is a decent equivalent, but I'm going to liken it to a camera using film. In bright light the only way the camera can produce a picture is to have a very tiny iris setting and a very fast exposure speed. More than that and the picture burns out, but properly set the camera produces a beautiful image. When the light is lower, the same camera can still produce an equally beautiful image but to do so it needs a wide-open iris and a slow exposure. Perhaps your window is wide enough that it allows in enough light for your plants to produce.

[PaphMadMan]

With a completely unobstructed north window I was able to bloom Paph Maudiae 'The Queen' regularly, and Ornithophora radicans was in bloom almost continuously for 3 years. Those may not be surprising. But Prosthechea cochleata and Epidendrum pseudepidendrum both bloomed 3 years in a row, in the center of the window right up against the glass. Not abundantly, but they bloomed, so Catt alliance plants aren't impossible.

The larger the window, and the more reflective the surrounding surfaces and the room in general, the better. And keep the window clean.

[AnonYMouse]

You face north, your chids are growing and blooming. What't the problem?

And if one day, you pick up a plant that needs more light, there is a whole section of OB dedicated to growing under lights where people who grow orchids in basements hang out.

[jkofferdahl]

Originally Posted by AnonYMouse

You face north, your chids are growing and blooming. What't the problem?

And if one day, you pick up a plant that needs more light, there is a whole section of OB dedicated to growing under lights where people who grow orchids in basements hang out.

And rooms with only northern windows. I love my T5s.

[chiirioz]

Hmm.. I guess my office experiment will end in a fail then. I just got a large white NOID as a gift for Admin's day a few weeks ago. I repotted her in lava rock and bark and she still has lots of flowers.

I am lucky to have a full window in the office but it is tinted and north facing. The orchid is under T8 fluorescent lights... about 4 ish feet below? I am hoping this with regular watering will help it maintain it's flowers... but I guess I will take it home after it drops the blooms. (Here's my setup: LINK)

Most of my phals are in very bright, direct, South-facing light and have been hardened to these brighter conditions... I just did not really want ANOTHER phal... and a giant one at that. Was planning to stick to minis. Oh well!

samgeo, if this current North-facing setup is working for you and you have gotten reblooms, I say, why change it? Your orchids seem happy to give a spike and rebloom so I don't think a North window is a death sentence.