how much light...

does a flowering orchid need? I know that once in flower, it does not have full light requirements, but some orchids can bloom for weeks or months and I don't want to light deprive it.

I always tell people two to three weeks away from their normal growing spot, and that's a very safe, general rule. When the plant's in flower, put it somewhere where you can enjoy it. Lower light may even help the blooms last longer. Just don't keep it there for very long so the plant doesn't start going downhill.

In paphs & phrags at least, lower light will help the flowers last longer and retain better color. Or so they say. I still like to put the reddish buds in good light to let them develop, since the production of anthocyanin pigments is enhanced by high light.

But what do you do with a phal, that can go on for months, or a multi-floral phrag that may bloom for a long time or on multiple spikes for a long time? Keep it outside?

we all know that phals don't need light anyway :P

and you can keep the phrags in any bright window for the length of the spike-only the really long-petalled ones need really bright south-window type light, and the flowers on them only last 3-4 weeks anyway.

I have several plants in bloom now. During the day, they are all outside in the shade house, but in the evening, I pick two or three to bring inside to enjoy. They seem to be happy; my P. Earth Star has been in bloom since April and is still making new buds. I was concerned that they might miss the drop in temp and increased humidity at night outside, but they don't seem to mind.
Liz

Would love to see your shade house (pic) someday.

I've been meaning to take some pics. My hubby threw this together for me; it's actually more of a porch. He attached poles from the edge of our nasty patio cover to two beams he sunk in concrete in big pots (so it's not too hard to take down if necessary). I haven't gotten around to painting the beams or planting the pots (he left about 5 inches from the top of the pots and drilled drain holes so could I add soil and plant annuals or something. The patio/porch faces south-west, so we only put shade cloth on the top and back; the sides are open. I've begun adding ascocendas and vandas along the poles; there's about 35 plants now and room for more. And, for the few cold months we have here, it'll be easy to move the shelves into the garage under an HID.

Attached Images

  

Wow. Those pictures are way too big. What did I do wrong?

Those Phals look really healthy & the blooms superb.
1 day i,d like to have a setup like yours

I guess you should have re-sized the piccies before posting.
No problem to me but anyone on dialup conection might
have to wait a while before they load.