How Much Light Does an Orchid Need?
If you’re planning to start growing orchid plants and are wondering about how much light they need, this article can help. How much light your orchids need depends on their species, how big they are, and the type of orchid you have. Different orchid plants require different amounts of sunlight. Here are a few things to remember when caring for your orchid plants so that you can get just the right amount of sunlight each day for optimum growth.
Go ahead – make it day to day. Most orchids require enough light to do well indoor gardening. Indoor gardening means growing orchids indoors, so they need to stay relatively dark, even during the hours when the sun is out. Also, remember that most orchids require at least 6 hours of direct sunlight each day, and many prefer more, to help distribute the extra heat from the sun.
Indoor plants often require lighting to grow properly. A basic rule of thumb is that orchids will do best in natural sunlight. To measure for sunlight, place the orchid in a shaded area. A lux meter can measure sunlight intensity and humidity levels inside a room. Place a fabric draped over the orchid, allowing it to absorb as much as possible of the room’s orchid lighting.
How much light exposure your orchids get each day, as well as what time of day you provide it, plays a large part in the health and appearance of your orchids. If you have very heavy, overgrown foliage, the plant will only bloom for a short period of time before the leaves drop off. If the leaves are weak and fragile, or turn a yellowish or brownish color, or areores and brown spots may develop.
When you repot an orchid, you should take special care to consider the type of orchid mix you have. Most orchids, with the exception of the epiphytes, grow on the same types of roots. There are three different classes of orchid roots: rhizomes, which are shoots or growths on the plant’s leaves; the phalaenopsis, or “fern-like” roots, and the epiphyte roots, which are anchor or support roots. Repotting your orchid mix should only be done with one of these three roots types.
Most orchids prefer a week of light per day, but can also be grown in the shade if you are caring for a particularly delicate plant, or are using a potting soil that needs to be replaced frequently. For the majority of plants, the best time to fertilize is in the morning after the last frost. During this time, you should make sure the orchid is completely dry. It is important not to over water your plant, as it will only encourage root rot and the roots may never fully develop. Once you have fertilized the plant, you should water only occasionally and apply the fertilizer on top of the water only. Do not allow the fertilizer to dry on the leaves or petals of the plant.
If you are growing tropical plants, orchids love the sun, but do require a little extra help when growing them in your home. Like all plants, orchids require certain elements in order to grow properly and bloom, including water, sunlight, humidity, and nutrients. In the natural environment, plants are constantly growing and changing, being fed by the sun, rain and minerals found in the soil. Plants have photosynthesis, using light and water to produce energy needed to make the necessary food to grow and bloom.
When growing orchids indoors, you can supplement their light source with grow lights, which provide supplemental, even illumination for the leaves. Grow lights are used to boost the plant’s energy level. They normally use three different types of bulbs – metal halide (MH), high pressure sodium (HPS), and ultra-violet (UV). To find out how much light intensity (brightness) your orchid requires, attach the lux meter to a small piece of glass inside or outside of your greenhouse, and use the measuring device to determine how much light your orchid requires.