I would move the croton away from the others. Croton are famous for spider mites when indoors because people cannot provide enough light, and yours has been outdoors (bugs could’ve made their home that way).

The other plants look fabulous!

Phals in Florida can not tolerate full sun. They will die. The higher the latitude the more they can take. Exactly what point north they can enjoy full sun is something I do not know. But there is a minimal point north for sure. Canada is no problem.

Phals in Boston can't take full sun either. None of my phals get anywhere near the windowsill as I've sunburned too many to continue to make that mistake. Some of my Catts can't even take full sun - go figure!

I'm not sure where you live, but even here in NY, I would never advise anyone to put phals in a window described as "sunny." You'll burn it. The aim for phals is bright light with little-to-no direct sun. Mine are in an area 5-10 feet from a really sunny window, and it toes the line of "too much" light. North facing windowsills are ideal in most situations. Soak well when dry ... every 5-7 days or so?

The blue one is dyed and will bloom white on any new spikes.

I grow mine in my sunniest windows directly next to the glass near D.C. They love it. Old leaves might burn, but new ones are just fine.

burning old leaves is not good...

In west central Ohio, I can give phals direct sun for a few hours in the early AM. Never been in a position to do it in evening sun but I would think they would handle a couple hours of late evening sun also? Just be sure to acclimate over a week or three instead of just shoving them in the bright light all at once. That said, I don't think they could take 10AM-4PM sun, it would definitely fry them unless there was some type of protection/screening overhead.

I've burnt my share of phal leaves, but then again I don't grow them for the foliage :) I'm a firm believer in that phals can take more sun than most people think. As with most orchids, I also think more sun during the growing phase helps blooming later down the road.

Are these potted in spagh moss or a bark mix? It matters when watering.

Mine (mostly in bark) get watered thoroughly every 7 days during the winter, sometimes 2x a week during summer growing season, but "water when almost dry" is the general rule for phals. Be sure to remove from decorative pots when watering and replace when they have mostly stopped dripping water through the inner pots.

Good luck,

Bob

My orchids recover just fine. The leaves are just adjusting to new conditions- it does not mean the plants are in the wrong conditions. Once acclimated, they will take as much sun as you can give them in my zone.

rosie, Is your window facing north?

My phals are in a west-facing window and do fine, except for one stubborn one which hasn't bloomed in over a year yet is growing new leaves. Just have to say I don't care for the dyed phals, not even at a wedding reception. Colors not found in nature turn me off.

My window faces South West so mostly morning sun with a bit of afternoon when the sun changes angles.

morning sun is the tamest. Here best is a north window for phals.

The issue with more light is that it will most likely impact blooming. Can they take high light? Sure. Do they PREFER it? In my experience, no. A few years ago I had to relocate my phals to a room that gets early morning sun, and a serious amount of bright light for the rest of the day. While many of my other orchids love it, the phals do not.

I shield them from it as best I can, but they have definitely reacted. They bloom twice a year, which is great, but that exhausts them, and so both the new leaves and the flowers are a little smaller than they used to be, and it's nowhere near as big a show as they gave me in lower light conditions. Unfortunately they have to stay where they are for the moment.

5 years ago: 27 blooms on the yellow, 10 on the purple.

Today, 11 buds on the yellow:

And never more than 5 on the purple:

My experience has not been the same. I don't get 2x per year blooming, but I certainly get blooms.

Plants can flourish under all kinds of conditions and treatment. I'm not saying you are incorrect, I'm just saying there are different philosophies.

These are the extras I kept at home. The ones with more conventional forms I brought to work.

I'm not saying they won't bloom and grow. I'm saying they bloom and grow better with the optimal levels of light, so if one CAN provide those levels, one should. I can't. They get way brighter light than they prefer, and it shows in their blooms, but it's the only choice I have at the moment, so I make it work. While there are different ways to provide optimal growing conditions, those optimal growing conditions aren't a "philosophy" ... it's not really subject to what we believe, it's simply plant biology.

There is a difference between "survive and bloom" and "flourish."

After 20 years of growing Phals as well as other orchids, you would think I might know the difference between orchids that are barely surviving and those that are thriving. Should I also discount the others that have chimed in that say they also put their orchids in sunny windows?

When I was active on the forum 20 years ago, the idea was to keep them drier than conventionally recommended and lower sunlight. The pendulum swung towards much more sunlight (more inline with my experience) and benign neglect. Now less sunlight and keeping consistently moist. My point is that recommendations change and that can be expected given all the many differences in growing conditions. If we are equal on one condition, there might be another variable that causes us to have very different results. I'm open to your experience and think if someone's orchids are underperforming, sunlight exposure either more or less is one avenue to explore as well as countless others (growing media, pot choice, humidity, watering practices, etc).

Now that I can garden outside I am more focused on my perennials and bulbs. It is amazing how the same plant can flourish under completely different conditions. I would never tell someone that they are imagining their own plants' growth and success just because they use different growing methods than mine.

Shaved monkey- I agree that morning sun in softer. FL sun is an entirely different animal than the sun we get here! I remember my sunburns in FL very well - as someone who had sunburned less than 10x in my life!

Apparently I've touched a nerve. I never said "barely surviving," nor do I think putting phals on sunny windows is some sort of crime. You clearly either don't understand what I'm trying to say, or are refusing to because I've contradicted you. Hopefully I've communicated clearly enough for the others participating in the thread. Happy growing, all!

Over the last 15 years I've grown in shadier conditions and sunnier for phals, I definitely believe that in my conditions (outdoors summer, indoors winter) the more sun I can give them without burning, the better the growth and ultimately the blooming... We're talking morning sun during the summers and the brightest light I can provide in the winter/indoors. My phals improved vastly when I started putting them outside on an east patio for the summers.

Just my experience,

Bob

Dannie,

Upon re-reading this thread I see I missed something earlier:

1. How long had you had those phals prior to having the 27/10 flowers?

2. To my eye, the phal leaves in the first 27/10 picture look a lighter green than those in the last two pics with lesser flowers. The darker color leaves generally indicates less light?

3. Something culture related is causing your phals to spike twice a year. Are you intentionally or naturally dropping temps 2x a year to initiate the spikes? I do have some species phals that bloom multiple times a year, but most of my hybrids just once in the fall/winter. I agree with you that blooming 2x a year is probably part of the reason for lower flower count.

Bob

Hi Bob,

For the yellow one, it was probably its second or third re-bloom for me, and then I had to move it to its current location, where the light is far, stronger for longer hours, and the temperature swings are definitely wider a few times of year (there's the shorter, cooled days of fall, and then there's the crazy alter-climate that the AC creates in this building). I'm pretty sure this is why they bloom twice a year. I don't feed them any more or less than I did in their other location.

The leaves are most definitely lighter now. They are not damaged, but this particular plant is quite bleached and dull by the level of light they get. The leaves are also smaller than in past years. Other phals that I'm able to shield a bit from the intensity of the sun are a much brighter and shinier lime green (except for those with purple flowers; those are dark green/purple-ish, but that has nothing to do with light levels).

Oh my goodness Dannie, I saw a phal just like the one in your photos. The white background with purple blots in the center. I passed on it because I was getting too many phals and I wanted to be more choosy about my purchases. But I regret that decision so much, I wish I bought it. It must be a beautiful addition to your space.

Wow, the photo on the right is a near twin of mine! It's certainly one of my favorites, in part because it belonged to my boss, who died young, very unexpectedly, several years ago. He kept this in his office, and his wife let me keep it. So it has sentimental value, but it's also one of my more unusual ones. Some knowledgeable people in my orchid society told me its parentage at some point, and I have, of course, forgotten! It was apparently a very de rigueur plant for orchid enthusiasts at some point. From Japan, if memory serves.