Are these curtains sheer enough?
 

Afternoon, all. :)

I was wondering if these curtains are sheer enough/too sheer to filter out direct sunlight that hits this window around 3-4 p.m. It is a western facing window. There are trees outside, which helps some, however they're kind of stubby and the sun has a tendency to sit above them slightly.

My fiance wants me to move my cattleyas from the bathroom into the bedroom because I want to provide them a fan for air circulation and a light to supplement when it gets cloudy/rains (which it has done practically every day since May)...something about not wanting to start a fire in the bathroom? Sheesh (just kidding, I want to be safe!).

It may actually work out better, just because the light the cattleyas get in the current location is basically shaded by trees most of the day, and I have been reading that they tend to like stronger light and a couple people mentioned that mine were a bit too dark green at present.

So I have attached a picture and am wondering if this is enough. If you want, I can take another picture around 3:30 and post it again, if that would be a better indicator. It's also sort of cloudy today, as it was raining this morning (shocker).

Thanks!

Edit: I added more pictures below with an explanation now that the sun is on the side of the building facing my windows.

Alright, the sun has come out a bit more and is slipping in and out of the clouds. There has not been any sunshine not coming through from behind clouds, but I have taken more pictures, hoping this might help. The first is of the window with the lace on it and the second is of the window with the lace off.

On the bookshelf in front of that window are my two phals and a beallara. I just got the beallara yesterday so I am still struggling with where to put it. I have another window in my living room that also receives afternoon sunlight which I can also cover with some lace and place the beallara in if need be (for instance, if the light provided through the blinds being down isn't enough). I am reading contradictory things about where to put it (they like less light than catts but more than phal? Idk). All of my windows face west, and all of them have trees of varying height outside.

Any advice?

I probably depends on the light intensity outside, but with the trees it could be OK.

I use something similar for some of mine and it's enough for those, when the sun isn't on them all day anyway. You say the sun is only direct for about an hour which sounds like it could be OK.

But as I can't know how bright your sun is, there is a test you can do. When the sun is in it's direct position hold out your hand in the light and look at the shadow it casts on the shelf you plan to put the orchids on. Is the shadow sharp edged and clear, or fairly soft edged. You want it to be soft edged. It's only a very rough guide but it might give you an indication.

Sun Test!
 

Woa!! That's a clever test. Can't wait for the sun to come around so I can try that too. Fascinating stuff. Sun doesn't get to my window until about 2 pm.

Thanks RosieC.

Lorna
x x x

I read it somewhere here a while back :)

I think you should be fine with the west window and the sheer curtains with your catts. I have some SLC's outside on a semi shaded deck and they get sun from 3-5 PM and are perfectly fine. If you can you may want to keep them back from the window for a week or so to acclimate them to the stronger light.

Bill

:) Thank you, I will do that! Right now I have them in the window sill with the curtain down because it has been raining all day, rained most of the day yesterday, and is supposed to rain all day tomorrow, lol. Once the rain passes I will hang the curtain back up. :)