Low-E glass has a coating consisting primarily of tin oxide on one of the
surfaces. It is designed to trap long-wave infrared (heat) and reflect it
back (to the inside in the winter, outside in the summer) to reduce energy
use.

The coating is probably in the neighborhood of 5000 angstroms thick, and
reduces the intensity of the incoming light a small amount. If I recall
correctly, the center of the visible light spectrum is reduced less than the
ends, meaning that the shading - as far as your plants are concerned - is a
slightly greater than what your eye detects.

--

Ray Barkalow First Rays Orchids
http://www.firstrays.com
Secure Online Ordering & Lots of Free Info!


"Douglas Bolt" wrote in message
...
Actually, the window in question
(http://www.boltassociates.com/Orchids-Kitchen/) faces south. The glass
is
Low E type ( I don't know what effect this has on plant growth. Anyone
know??) and during winter months the glass is shaded with window screen
from
about 16 inches down to the bottom. During the summer, the overhang on
the
roof shades against direct sunlight.

That said, most plants are grown elsewhere during part of the year -
either
outside or under lights.

doug bolt
Visit: http://www.boltassociates.com

profpam wrote:
The real question is: Is the kitchen window shady or sunny? If it is
always shady then a phalaenopsis would be the solution. If the
kitchen window is a little sunny, an oncidium would do best.
Oncidiums are not as fussy as most orchids and require good light in
order to bloom.

The problem with any sunny exposure is that you have to watch the
plant closely. There are are times during the year when the plant
will thrive and other times when the plant will fry. If the plant
starts to yellow then it may be exposed to too much sun.

Right now I have quite a number of orchids in my southern exposure
kitchen windows -- 5 vanda types in bloom, a couple of colmanaras, a
laeliocattleya and several other types. These are the same plants
that never seem to fail to bloom each year. But, taking them from the
greenhouse and then placing them in the house to open their buds can
be a real disaster for some types, which require constant humdity.

This is to say: There's a lot to growing orchids well: temperature,
light, humidity, water, fertilizer, and more. Make sure your
conditions are right for what you are trying to grow. While stress
has induced blossums, the long-term success of a particular species
relies on temperature, light, humidity, water, and more.