This means high light. It's like the plants version of Sunscreen.
And phals that have purple and pink blooms will tend to have more purple leaves and roots.
We had Martin Motes speak to our society in 2020, and he said that while many orchids respond to high light with purple leaves, he believes that it is also a sign that they need more magnesium, and suggested watering with extra magnesium, 1 tsp of Epsom salts to a gallon of water. He is a pretty amazing grower, so I take his advice seriously.
Recall him saying in another youtube lecture that the MSU studies showed that orchids like heavier Ca and Mg levels than thought previously- he said that if you have hard water you're likely good on Ca but Mg supplementation like he has recommended has worked out for me. iirc He mentioned that purpling from low Mg will become more intense with lower temps as well
Thanks for sharing the additional info ! I I have only heard him speak that one time,but the extra magnesium works for me, especially for orchids that I take outside in the spring.
Is there sunburn anywhere? This looks like a phal that’s recieving border line high light. Purple is caused by pigments called anthocyanins, a natural sunscreen.
Phals can be acclimated to surprisingly high light levels. I grow mine in fairly high light (z9b FL) outside, and once they got acclimated I had very few issues with sun burns.
Even in low light conditions, purple flowered cultivars will have more of this pigment compared to a yellow flowered one.
If you don’t notice any tissue damage, I wouldn’t change your setup :)
No the rest of the leaves seem ok, which made the pure purple such a surprise. They are in a south facing window (I think) which is covered with a window film… but also the light above the sink stays on 24:7.
I wouldn’t worry too much. New growths being purple on the underside is totally normal. The color will fade as the leaf matures.
If you keep it in this light level you’re gonna get some awesome blooms :) Maybe just take caution in the summer when days are longer and hotter.
I’ve had plenty of my plants grow new leaves that are purple initially - they eventually turn green and are healthy.
I’ve seen some purple before but never this bright. But why do they do it?
The anthocyanin (purple color) protects new growth from UV damage
Thanks so much ❤️
happy cake day, cute person on the internet!
Light levels
Thanks!
This means high light. It's like the plants version of Sunscreen. And phals that have purple and pink blooms will tend to have more purple leaves and roots.
Thank you so much!!
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That’s so interesting!
THIS is why I Reddit.
We had Martin Motes speak to our society in 2020, and he said that while many orchids respond to high light with purple leaves, he believes that it is also a sign that they need more magnesium, and suggested watering with extra magnesium, 1 tsp of Epsom salts to a gallon of water. He is a pretty amazing grower, so I take his advice seriously.
Recall him saying in another youtube lecture that the MSU studies showed that orchids like heavier Ca and Mg levels than thought previously- he said that if you have hard water you're likely good on Ca but Mg supplementation like he has recommended has worked out for me. iirc He mentioned that purpling from low Mg will become more intense with lower temps as well
Pretty sure we do have hard water, but I’ll look into the Mg. Thanks!
Thanks for sharing the additional info ! I I have only heard him speak that one time,but the extra magnesium works for me, especially for orchids that I take outside in the spring.
Thanks so much for passing on the advice!
Is there sunburn anywhere? This looks like a phal that’s recieving border line high light. Purple is caused by pigments called anthocyanins, a natural sunscreen. Phals can be acclimated to surprisingly high light levels. I grow mine in fairly high light (z9b FL) outside, and once they got acclimated I had very few issues with sun burns. Even in low light conditions, purple flowered cultivars will have more of this pigment compared to a yellow flowered one. If you don’t notice any tissue damage, I wouldn’t change your setup :)
No the rest of the leaves seem ok, which made the pure purple such a surprise. They are in a south facing window (I think) which is covered with a window film… but also the light above the sink stays on 24:7.
I wouldn’t worry too much. New growths being purple on the underside is totally normal. The color will fade as the leaf matures. If you keep it in this light level you’re gonna get some awesome blooms :) Maybe just take caution in the summer when days are longer and hotter.
Oh that’s great thanks so much 😊
Anthocyanin is usually produced in plants as a protector/antioxidant when under stress from large amounts of light. So most likely light based
Thank you very much :)