Like humans, plants need light to grow well! If you have orchids at home, you need to provide them with good light to make them grow well.
Light is essential for photosynthesis in orchids . In fact, good light accelerates the flowering of your plants. To provide light to your orchids, there are only 3 things to evaluate: intensity, duration and quality.
light intensity
Luminous intensity refers to the power of the light .
If the light is not strong enough, the orchid will not produce enough energy to produce flowers . It is weak, with long, thin leaves.
On the other hand, if you give plants too bright light, the leaves will burn and become damaged. Sunburn also reduces the surface area of the leaves where the plant can photosynthesize.
If the light intensity is adequate, the orchid will be able to use the light to convert carbon dioxide and water into energy . It will have strong, lush, light-colored leaves. The orchid will then use the stored energy to produce flowers.
Duration of light
While light intensity refers to the strength of the light, light duration refers rather to the photoperiod during the day.
The length of daylight changes with the seasons. The closer you get to the equator, the more constant the length of daylight. As you move away from the equator, the season affects the length of daylight .
But orchids need the night as much as the day.
Quality of light
And the quality of the light? In reality, it is the amount of red, green and blue light coming from the light source.
Whether you grow your orchids outdoors or in a greenhouse , your orchids will naturally receive the full spectrum of light they need to thrive.
However, if you place orchids on the windowsill or under artificial lights inside the house, the quality of the light plays an important role.
Since some windows block ultraviolet light, we recommend choosing a full-spectrum LED bulb for your plants. In this way, the plants will absorb a distribution of blue, green and red light.
How can I provide orchids with more light?
In addition to placing the orchid in an appropriate position and providing artificial light when necessary, here are some other interesting tips for giving more light to orchids.
You can double the amount of light by placing mirrors in front of a window or an LED bulb. Carefully adjust the angle of the mirror so as not to burn the orchid. Instead, focus on the area that would otherwise be in shadow.
Orchids, like all plants, grow towards the light. This is especially important if the orchid’s light source is a window and the light comes from only one direction.
By rotating the phalaenopsis orchid , you can make the flower stem straighter.