Has anyone experimented with far-red light with orchids?

[thefish1337]

Lots of the information about growing orchids is extremely out dated using footcandles, recommending cool white fluorescent or HID lights, ect. Has anyone here experimented to see what the effect of far red light would be on orchid growth? If you had an unbalanced spectrum you might get leggy plants but combining far red with a light with sufficient blue light you may be able to enhance orchid growth. as epiphytes orchids may naturally enjoy far red and green because these photons penetrate deep into both the canopy and leaves.

idea from these videos:

[wisdomseeker]

Has anyone experimented with far-red light with orchids?

Good information about spectrum & plant growth within those videos. Dr. Bruce Bugbee, and his company Apogee, is well respected.

I've done a little bit of experimenting with "far-red" (and growing orchids) for a couple of years. Nothing scientific by any means - just observation as a layman and hobbyist. My indoor set-ups use LED lighting. A few of those LED fixtures are designed with supplemental far-red diodes (+/- 730nm), added into the main mix/array of white-blue-red and green that make up the bulk of my overall spectrum.

From what I have observed... no noticeable differences in growth or flowering using the supplemental far-red diodes (e.g., elongation, flowering sooner, etc.). Don't really know if the far-reds are beneficial or not, its just that "I" have not witnessed any differences in growth (and/or flowering) with the supplemental far-red diodes... especially compared to being grown under lights with deep red [+/- 660nm] or red [+/- 620nm) diodes. Several of my orchids are duplicate species (being grown 'with' and 'without' far-red) and nothing different is going on with the growth and flowering of those orchids that I have noticed as comparisons.

LEDs have really progressed throughout the years, and the cost (price) for LEDs seem to have also decreased from years past. When I first purchased my far-red diodes they were expensive (especially compared to other reds), but now have come down in price compared to years past. With 'the naked eye', far-red appears to be very dim (I try not to stare at an energized LED too long). As anyone in the know 'knows', dim & bright "to the human eye" really don't mean much.

[Ray]

FWIW, when under artificial light, I have used white LEDs with far red diodes added - Philips Greenpower Production Units. As I had nothing to compare them to, it’s impossible to say if it made a difference, but 1) far red is supposed to aid in flowering of some plants, and 2) Philips is a company with a lot of knowledge in this arena, so why shouldn’t I take their word for it...