Reka wrote:
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Okay, I know a little about orchids, but more about orchards, a subject
that I have grown up with. (Shades of those poor newbies who think this
is "rec.gardens.orchards"!) Over here, we have problems with hail damage
on apple crops from summer to early fall. Thus, hail netting is
stretched over the trees during that time period. Very dark green,
black, or white nets have been used. It has been proven that the red
apples under white netting color up much better than those under the
other two dark colors. Now, how this can be correlated to orchids, I
don't know, but perhaps it is worth the time I took to write it. And I
am a slow typer. :-) I am assuming it could be the extra heat generated
under the darker colors that prevent better color. Red apples need
temperature swings from cool nights to warmer days without rain in order
to color up well.


Hi Reka.
We haven't had one of those orchard/orchid confused people in a while now.
About the red apples under white netting... You are obviously right
about better color with cooler temperatures. That's why they grow a lot
of Macintosh apples in Vermont and here in northern New York but not
much farther south. I bet heat isn't the factor with the netting though.
I'm not sure a dark netting would cause more heat around the trees.
(Also not 100% sure it wouldn't.) I bet it's just more light getting
through. You KNOW the apples color up better on the sunny side of the tree.
My first thought was that maybe this does translate into better orchids
and the better light that colors up apples would probably help orchid
blooming. On second thought, if it's just the quantity of light, then
for orchids that need the shade, they need the right amount of shade and
it probably doesn't matter if that amount is created by black or white
cloth.

Steve