When plants are maintained indoors light
quantity and quality must be considered. If kept
by a window, they should receive filtered light
and not be exposed to direct sunlight for
prolonged periods. Setting up a permanent
location allows you to deal with both the plants
requirements and yours.
Many people who keep their plants indoors use
4 foot long fluorescent lights. Many types of
fluorescent lights are available. Cool White (CW)
fluorescent tubes produce almost twice as much
light as most plant lights of the same size and
wattage. Blue light promotes photosynthesis and
compact growth, while red lights produce the same
amount of blue as CW tubes, but nearly three
times as much red and twelve times as much in the
far red. Seedlings, community pots, and flasks do
will under CW tubes. The use of only CW lights
for flowering size plants is not recommended.
When CW and wide spectrum plants are mixed (1:1)
the plants do well and you save money.
Not all varieties of orchids are good
candidates for indoor culture. The Miltonia,
Palaenopsis, Paphiopedilum, and some Cattleya
have been the most popular because they often
bloom well with only moderate amounts of light.
If a plant receives insufficient light, now
growth is dark green and rather spindly. If light
intensity is marginal, growth often looks normal
but flowering does not occur, or, if they do
flower, fewer flowers are produced.
When placing plants under lights a few things
should be kept in mind. The closer you keep the
plants to the lights the better off they will be
as long as you do not have them close enough to
overheat. Cattleya will do well within
(2) to (4) inches of the fluorescent lights. Phalaenopsis
are kept (6) to (9) inches away. on four foot
tubes, the middle 2.5 feet is the brightest, with
the light intensity dropping off as much as 30%
near the ends. Place plants with greater light
requirements near the center and those with less
at the ends.
Keeping your orchids on slotted racks which
are light weight, allows for drainage, and
disperses their weight evenly over the expanse of
the shelf. With racks, all of the plants under a
given set of lights can be moved, watered, etc.,
without having to handle each pot. To prevent
pots from falling off the racks they can be
placed in 1x2 foot trays with (2) trays to a
rack.
The amount of water and fertilizer required
will depend on type and size of the pot, the
potting medium you use, and the type of plant.
Mature plants may need to be watered once a week,
seedlings in 2" pots may require watering 2
or 3 times a week. Never let your plant stand in
water for more than a few minutes. If needed the
humidity can be supplemented with trays of moist
gravel. When orchids are kept next to a wall,
place a sheet of clear plastic on the wall and
the floor directly behind the stand. This way,
when the plants are misted, the wall and the
floor will remain dry. If plants are summered
outdoors, the entire collection should be
inspected for bugs prior to bringing them in for
the winter.
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