3 ways to meet your orchid's light requirements
There are many ways to meet your orchid lighting requirement and have it blooming in the fastest time possible . As with all things , careful attention to the specific strategies and techniques one must know and apply will be an added advantage . There are three different ways of meeting the orchid lighting requirements and I am sure this information is going to be beneficial to the novice and advanced Orchid Growers. So let's dive into the topic :
All plants, including orchids, require light to perform photosynthesis.There are so many varieties of orchids and each one has a different lighting requirements. In their natural habitat Some orchids are exposed to a bright tropical sun while others live deep within shady forests. Your knowledge of your orchid's varieties will determine their lighting requirements .Try to simulate this environment with the same lighting levels they would normally receive in nature will be very beneficial to the orchid plants.
Light maybe measured in units called a footcandle (fc).Take for example : On a cold winter day, the light level may be less than 500 fc but on a bright sunny day the light level might be 10,000 fc. A human being will not be able to differentiate to determine the true light level in an area because the human eye is capable of adjusting his vision to a broad range of light levels and can be tricked by the true level of light present. For example, a supermarket may appear brightly lighted with fluorescent lights, but the light levels may be as little as 500 fc.
A footcandle is normally equivalent to the light that is produced by a candle at the distance of one foot. To determine the light level that is needed by your orchids , you will need a special device to measure light in foot candles and is capable of calculating bright light up to at least 10,000 footcandles.
There are different symptoms of over lighted and under lighted orchid plants .
Some Symptoms of very low light level
a)The leaves of the orchid plant are colored dark green and they have no brightness or added glow in them.
b) The orchid plant has never bloomed or it has rarely bloomed.
c) The growth of the plant is incremental or very little growth is shown.
d) The orchid plant lacks sturdiness,unhealthy ,and lacks any strength.
e) The root system is very thinly spread and very little.
Some Symptoms of strong light levels are:
a) The leaves may exhibit burn spots.
b) The spots turn yellow or exhibits brown dry patches on the leaves. They could also be rough and slightly raised.
c) The leave should feel cool to the touch and not be hot .
d) A plant exposed to strong light will eventually wither and die.
e) The plant growth is too little and the leaves lack luster and turn yellow.
f) On some orchids, the color is bleached out of the leaves.
g) In other varieties the leaves turn red.
h) The leaves stars falling off and possibly will turn black
Some tropical varieties would like longer of sunlight while other orchids prefer shorter periods of time exposed to direct sunlight.Other orchids prefer shorter periods of exposure to sunlight in the winter and in summer require about 12 to 14 hours of sunlight It is generally believed that exposure to direct sunlight will be detrimental to the orchids.A BALANCED approach would be to put the orchid in the morning sunlight more while avoiding the midday sun since it can wither the orchid and might caused its death if exposed to the midday sun too long. Because of this fact , many people use artificial lights to continue exposing the orchid to the light it needs while avoiding the destructive effects of the midday sun
As far as absorption of light is concerned, it can range from barely enough to the human eye to see anything to several orders of magnitude than the peak sunlight is. Sunlight at this level in not too much a problem for the plant as long as the plant can be maintained as cool . Always bear in mind that solar irradiation means both heat and light and this factor is most responsible for overheating the plants internally.In most cases where winter becomes a limiting factor to sunlight, the exposure to Artificial lights becomes a necessity to continuous growth in the Orchid plant.
Orchids can grow and flower under artificial light if there is insufficient natural light. The light , smaller plants are easier to manage . In some cases,Some orchids may an adjustment period up to two years to developing under florescent lamps/artificial lights but, when they do, they often bloom more regularly and frequently. In addition, high artificial light intensity can intensify up the development of seedlings.
To sum it up ,The use of natural sunlight, a combination of grow-light and florescent lights plus, a full knowledge of of the kind of different species of your orchid ,will ensure that you can have a beautiful orchid plant that will give you beautiful ,stunning ,and healthy throughout it's bloom season.
All plants, including orchids, require light to perform photosynthesis.There are so many varieties of orchids and each one has a different lighting requirements. In their natural habitat Some orchids are exposed to a bright tropical sun while others live deep within shady forests. Your knowledge of your orchid's varieties will determine their lighting requirements .Try to simulate this environment with the same lighting levels they would normally receive in nature will be very beneficial to the orchid plants.
Light maybe measured in units called a footcandle (fc).Take for example : On a cold winter day, the light level may be less than 500 fc but on a bright sunny day the light level might be 10,000 fc. A human being will not be able to differentiate to determine the true light level in an area because the human eye is capable of adjusting his vision to a broad range of light levels and can be tricked by the true level of light present. For example, a supermarket may appear brightly lighted with fluorescent lights, but the light levels may be as little as 500 fc.
A footcandle is normally equivalent to the light that is produced by a candle at the distance of one foot. To determine the light level that is needed by your orchids , you will need a special device to measure light in foot candles and is capable of calculating bright light up to at least 10,000 footcandles.
There are different symptoms of over lighted and under lighted orchid plants .
Some Symptoms of very low light level
a)The leaves of the orchid plant are colored dark green and they have no brightness or added glow in them.
b) The orchid plant has never bloomed or it has rarely bloomed.
c) The growth of the plant is incremental or very little growth is shown.
d) The orchid plant lacks sturdiness,unhealthy ,and lacks any strength.
e) The root system is very thinly spread and very little.
Some Symptoms of strong light levels are:
a) The leaves may exhibit burn spots.
b) The spots turn yellow or exhibits brown dry patches on the leaves. They could also be rough and slightly raised.
c) The leave should feel cool to the touch and not be hot .
d) A plant exposed to strong light will eventually wither and die.
e) The plant growth is too little and the leaves lack luster and turn yellow.
f) On some orchids, the color is bleached out of the leaves.
g) In other varieties the leaves turn red.
h) The leaves stars falling off and possibly will turn black
Some tropical varieties would like longer of sunlight while other orchids prefer shorter periods of time exposed to direct sunlight.Other orchids prefer shorter periods of exposure to sunlight in the winter and in summer require about 12 to 14 hours of sunlight It is generally believed that exposure to direct sunlight will be detrimental to the orchids.A BALANCED approach would be to put the orchid in the morning sunlight more while avoiding the midday sun since it can wither the orchid and might caused its death if exposed to the midday sun too long. Because of this fact , many people use artificial lights to continue exposing the orchid to the light it needs while avoiding the destructive effects of the midday sun
As far as absorption of light is concerned, it can range from barely enough to the human eye to see anything to several orders of magnitude than the peak sunlight is. Sunlight at this level in not too much a problem for the plant as long as the plant can be maintained as cool . Always bear in mind that solar irradiation means both heat and light and this factor is most responsible for overheating the plants internally.In most cases where winter becomes a limiting factor to sunlight, the exposure to Artificial lights becomes a necessity to continuous growth in the Orchid plant.
Orchids can grow and flower under artificial light if there is insufficient natural light. The light , smaller plants are easier to manage . In some cases,Some orchids may an adjustment period up to two years to developing under florescent lamps/artificial lights but, when they do, they often bloom more regularly and frequently. In addition, high artificial light intensity can intensify up the development of seedlings.
To sum it up ,The use of natural sunlight, a combination of grow-light and florescent lights plus, a full knowledge of of the kind of different species of your orchid ,will ensure that you can have a beautiful orchid plant that will give you beautiful ,stunning ,and healthy throughout it's bloom season.
Source...