Light meter reading questions

[etex]

Hi everyone. I received a Hydrofarm Digital Light Meter as a Christmas present. The results I received are puzzling! For each plant stand I measured light with the wand in front of a plant's leaf in direct sunlight and a leaf out of direct sunlight in the same stand. For example: Sunroom peaked at 7960(sun)/1200(not sun),lowest reading 4010/270.The plant stand is 1 ft deep and I am careful the plants in the back are not blocked out by the front. I grow my Maudies here-just kidding-it's for catts,brassavolas and dendrobiums. Would think the radient light would not allow this much difference in the same stand!?Does this mean I need to rotate plants back to front? Do these readings sound right?It took me awhile to get the x1,x10,x100 settings-moving the decimal point and all that!! Any tips?Thanks for any input! Diane

 

[Ray]

It sounds right to me, Diane. Direct sunlight is always significantly brighter than any indirect lighting.

 

[SlipperFan]

I agree with Ray. To test it out, place your hand in the sun and measure it. Then with your hand and meter in the same spot, place a piece of cardboard between your hand/meter and the sun, and you should see a two - three stop difference in the readings. That's a quarter or eighth as much light as direct sunlight.