Too much light?

16 years ago

Recently my boyfriend had bought me an orchid from Norman's Orchid for valentine. It was doing great, until I think I may of killed it. The leaves on the plant now look like this.

{{gwi:145531}}

Is this because I have been giving it too much light? One time I accidently forgot, and left it in direct sunlight for couple of hours. The plant when i first got it didn't have the symptom on the leaves. Thank you for your response.

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Comments (3)

highjack
16 years ago
Please refer back to the link below with the explanation of the needs of this particular species.

No, two hours of direct sun in IL in the winter is not too much light for your orchid. This orchid came from a greenhouse in CA and would be used to more light than you can give it in the winter.

I can see the media this time and I know this is packed in tight sphag and is holding way too much water. You either have to increase the light, temps and air movement on this plant or repot it into a more open media that has a chance to dry out. Sphag packed this tight and crunchy on top will still be a sodden mess in the middle.

Check the FAQ's on the forum and you will find info on repotting plus several recent posts on phals will provide links to vendor info on repotting. I don't want you to lose your Valentine present but a phillipenensis is not a happy phal if not permitted to dry out more than a "normal" phal.

Brooke

Here is a link that might be useful: Normal for Orchid
ciee
Original Author
16 years ago
Thank you so much Brooke, I'll be sure to let it dry out a little bit more this time before watering. Thanks again, I hope it will revive.
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howard_a
16 years ago
It is very possible to have "too much light" and simultaneously have "too little light". This is a distinction that is missed by many to the peril of their collection. As Brooke observed, at this time of year in northern latitudes it isn't generally the case that an ordinary window can supply "too much light" for an orchid, even a phal. Yet, under certain conditions of temperature, sun angle, air clarity, etc. a momentary situation could be set up where a hot spot on a leaf could cause cell destruction and this would show as a black or white area of leaf damage. No, you don't want to expose leaves to amounts of sun that will damage them but neither do you want to shelter them to the point where they cannot collect their daily quota of footcandle hours. It is a balance that the experienced grower makes by eye all the time. To my eye, the discolorations on the leaf were not caused by sun damage, if they were it was very slight as these things go. They look more like the kind of opportunistic bacterial infections that occur whenever the cuticle of the leaf is breached. More than likely the average level of illumination around the plant as well as the ambient temperatures are on the low side for good growth and disease resistance. This will get better as winter gives way to spring.

H