Stans in too much light

[ALToronto]

I don't have a low-light window in which to hang my four Stanhopeas, so I have them hiding behind the mullions in my south-facing window. So what's the worst that can happen? Leaf burn? Can I compensate by keeping the sphag in their baskets perpetually damp?

What's the max temperature that they will tolerate?

None of this is a problem yet, but I'm concerned about the summer.

[santiago]

i can't answer you precisely, all i can tell you is that i recently had an acineta with lots of new growing points, but they where stucked, didn't grew or died in weeks. so i thought i might be because of light excess, so i changed the location, and the plant just... exploded, it's growing like crazy right now

[euplusia]

I'd say that you badly need moving air behind a window glass with high light intensity. The danger is overheating, i.e. a temperature of more than 40 degrees of Celsius in the plant tissue. Wet sphagnum can't compensate for that. China paper may help. Why not bring the plants outside?

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by euplusia

I'd say that you badly need moving air behind a window glass with high light intensity. The danger is overheating, i.e. a temperature of more than 40 degrees of Celsius in the plant tissue. Wet sphagnum can't compensate for that. China paper may help. Why not bring the plants outside?

Excellent assessment. Leaf burn is often from the overheating of the leaves.

To be honest, I used to grow many of my Stans in Cattleya light outside in Hawaii. I'm pretty sure the sunlight they got at that latitude was stronger than anything you can give your plants in summer! I found this to be species specific though, with the narrow leaved species (ie. oculata and its group) to more tolerant of high light conditions. The broad leaved species (ie. reichenbachiana) preferred darker locations.

What are you growing and is it possible to put them outside in summer, as said previously?

[Brooke]

I grow my Stanhopea and Acineta in Catt light and I never let them dry out.

Brooke

[Wild Orchid]

Originally Posted by euplusia

China paper may help. Why not bring the plants outside?

What is China paper?

Thanks,
WO

[ALToronto]

Thanks for the replies. My four Stans are:
Ecornuta
Inodora
Jenischiana
Warscewicziana

I have them in cedar slat baskets, in sphagnum/chc/charcoal/perlite, and now that the sunshine is getting stronger, it can get above 25 degrees in the window when the rest of the house is at 20, and the humidity can plummet as well.

Still far too cold to open windows, so I mist everything except the Stans' leaves (I already learned my lesson on that). I really want to avoid covering the windows, since this is in my living room, and I can finally enjoy having plants as window coverings.

I can't put them outside because of birds and especially squirrels.