"Can someone please adjust the sun?"
I'm sure my poor phals are begging for relief at this point. They have not fared well in this particular learning curve. I've changed their medium twice, repotted countless times, and now I've burned them! Ugh I feel so bad about it since it was such a slow development and I didn't notice it sooner.
The lights that I use are full spectrum LEDs from Sansi that I got from Amazon. I knew they were good quality from the reviews and some graphs posted by verified purchasers but I really underestimated their strength! I placed my phals about 15-17 inches from the lights, depending on their location in my home, when the recommended distance was 12-20 inches. I have now adjusted the lights on all of my plants so that they are further away, about 18-20 inches.
It was while I was flushing that I noticed the severity of the sunburn on my plants compared to the old leaves. Here, Gemma's leaves clearly show the difference between a healthy leaf with the right amount of light versus the top leaf, which is sunburned and has the reddish tint. Her leaves are limp, leathery, and she is just overall very dehydrated. Coupled with this newest stressor, I don't have much hope for this poor phalaenopsis.
Viola has also gotten a pretty bad sunburn. Fortunately her aerial roots were still good so she has a good chance at recovery. She hasn't shown any root development though which is a bit troubling. The smallest, bottom leaves are getting a bit dehydrated and wrinkly now, too. I imagine they will eventually yellow and fall off during the transition but hopefully I'll see some signs of improvement sooner than later.
While the other two phalaenopsis that were sitting with Tweetie under the same light got burned, she remained happy as a clam. I haven't seen any reddening of her leaves. Her top leaf is looking pretty good, and it still seems to be growing in. I haven't much root activity from her yet either, but that's to be expected. She is the only orchid in the Klimt Collection to come out rather unscathed.
Poor Crown suffered the worst sunburn out of them all, and she looks like she isn't going to really recover from this one. She has no roots and she is already so stressed out from the multiple medium changes. I decided to cut my losses now and say goodbye. She was a trooper but still so young I guess. I also said goodbye to Marshmallow, who also got really badly sunburned. They are both gone but not forgotten!
The phalaenopsis weren't the only plants to get a little to toasty. Ember, my oncidinae, got a bit suburned too. I'm not sure since I can't find any pictures online at the moment but I believe this reddish hue is a sunburn, just like the reddening of the phalaenopsis leaves. A leaf tip also burned at the edge since it was closer to the light fixture. I've moved her to a more suitable location and hopefully she will recover without too much delay. The Sharry Baby that I also have under a grow light had no problem with the bright light so I'm attributing this to the fact that she is a hybrid intergeneric.
I hope the new distance is less intense for the plants but enough to make them happy.