Grow Tent Orchids

[isurus79]

Anyone else using a grow tent for their orchids? I got my first one set up for my more persnickety plants! Here’s the setup: Orchid Grow Tent - YouTube

[Shadeflower]

very cool,
welcome to the indoor growers scene stephen.

Where the outdoor growers manual gets thrown out the window, or at least I consider it quite different.

You will see, this will be a whole new learning experience for you, just little differences. No more seasons, no more rain, no wind.

[Ray]

I am curious why they make tents with a silver interior, rather than white.

Matte white absorbs and re-emits all wavelength of light in all directions, maximizing the dispersion of photons. A silver mirror reflects it only at the (opposite) same angle with which the incident beam hit it, which for overhead lighting, means down to the floor.

A textured, silver fabric is somewhere in-between, offering more scatter than a mirror, but it absorbs some of the light without re-emitting it.

[Dusty Ol' Man]

As I said in another post, here is the setup I'm using when weather doesn't permit my plants to be outside. High light plants go on the top shelf. Yes, I use trays with seedling heat odds under them to try to increase humidity with some success. The light is from Orchid Hobbyist. And the fans are as follows; two computer fans running full time and one 120v muffin fan I use if I see there isn't enough airflow. The clear plastic allows sunlight from the east facing window to supplement the grow light.

[Dusty Ol' Man]

Originally Posted by isurus79

Anyone else using a grow tent for their orchids? I got my first one set up for my more persnickety plants! Here’s the setup: Orchid Grow Tent - YouTube

I just watched your video and have a question concerning your humidity problem. Is the bottom of the tent open or closed? If open, try turning the fan to blow upward, drawing drier air in from the bottom. My tent tends to stay in the 50 to 60% range with this method.

[K-Sci]

Thank you for the video tour, Isurus79!

I'm particularity curious about the results you will see following Chadwick's recommendation to withhold water in the winter for C. warscewiczii. The blooming size plant I have is in a basket that dries quickly, but it gets watered a little daily by water splashed from a tolumnia nearby that gets watered daily. Edit: In looking to see how dry it looked, I notice that it is putting out a new growth.

As to why C. warscewiczii would flower better when subjected to stress from dehydration in the winter, my only guess is that this "scares" the plant into making a last ditch effort to pass along its genes - much like a dandelion poisoned with 2,4-D. Edit: I'm now wondering if the dry period works to keep the plant from using energy reserves to grow in winter.

I have not used a growing tent so I'm curious about how you are managing the day-night temperature swings. I imagine that the LED power supply adds some daytime heat.
-Keith

[Shadeflower]

according the the orchid doctor:

REST: Is it Necessary? Many orchids experience definite wet and dry periods in their native haunts but it is not necessarily the best way to treat them under cultivation; pseudobulbs from wet/dry areas can be tripled in size by watering and fertilizing year round; an Oncidium ornothorrhynchum improved its growth by being deprived of its rest period. A84-17

REST PERIOD: Necessity for The idea that all orchids need a rest period is a fallacy; not necessary for many modern hybrids; a good practice is to water all plants with good green leaves. A68-431

REST PERIOD: Not Necessary for Plants Growing Under Optimum Conditions With few exceptions (such as the deciduous dendrobiums) the generalization about the necessity for a rest period is questionable; proper feeding and climate should bring frequent flowerings not injurious to a plant. A73-909

I just came across that yesterday..

So catasetums and deciduous dendrobiums need rest but with Cattleya's it's a fallacy? Or is it just the cattleya hybrids?

I know neofinetia don't need a rest when care guides state they do.

I can't add anything to the C. warscewiczii.

The orchid doc also says the way to get Trianae and Labiata to flower is to give them less than 14 hours of light in winter. No mention of a rest, too long light hours in winter prevents flowering with them.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by Shadeflower

very cool,
welcome to the indoor growers scene stephen.

Where the outdoor growers manual gets thrown out the window, or at least I consider it quite different.

You will see, this will be a whole new learning experience for you, just little differences. No more seasons, no more rain, no wind.

Well, it's only recently (few years ago) that I got a greenhouse, so I've been a part time indoor grower since I was a 12 year old in 1992! Although this will be my first real foray into year-round indoor growing. Should be fun!

Originally Posted by Ray

I am curious why they make tents with a silver interior, rather than white.

Matte white absorbs and re-emits all wavelength of light in all directions, maximizing the dispersion of photons. A silver mirror reflects it only at the (opposite) same angle with which the incident beam hit it, which for overhead lighting, means down to the floor.

A textured, silver fabric is somewhere in-between, offering more scatter than a mirror, but it absorbs some of the light without re-emitting it.

I dunno! The tent is for pot, so the guy that designed it may have been stoned??

Originally Posted by Dusty Ol' Man

I just watched your video and have a question concerning your humidity problem. Is the bottom of the tent open or closed? If open, try turning the fan to blow upward, drawing drier air in from the bottom. My tent tends to stay in the 50 to 60% range with this method.

The bottom holes in the tent are now open. my sensorpush tells me it's hovering around 80% today, though outside is around 90% humidity. I suspect that it's working well now. How do you get your humidity in the tent so low? Isn't Lake Charles 10000000% humidity all the time?

Originally Posted by K-Sci

I'm particularity curious about the results you will see following Chadwick's recommendation to withhold water in the winter for C. warscewiczii. The blooming size plant I have is in a basket that dries quickly, but it gets watered a little daily by water splashed from a tolumnia nearby that gets watered daily. Edit: In looking to see how dry it looked, I notice that it is putting out a new growth.

As to why C. warscewiczii would flower better when subjected to stress from dehydration in the winter, my only guess is that this "scares" the plant into making a last ditch effort to pass along its genes - much like a dandelion poisoned with 2,4-D. Edit: I'm now wondering if the dry period works to keep the plant from using energy reserves to grow in winter.

I suspect there is some chemical trigger that only happens during dry dormancy. Or the Chadwick advice is not true. Either way, the blooms this summer will let us know! If they're the same as previous year (weak) then the Chadwick advice isn't applicable to my conditions and I'll have to figure out when else is going on.

Originally Posted by K-Sci

I have not used a growing tent so I'm curious about how you are managing the day-night temperature swings. I imagine that the LED power supply adds some daytime heat.
-Keith

My sensorpush tells me I'm getting about a 5-10 degree differential. I think it's mostly related to the house temperature, though that particular room has large windows and not a lot of direct ventilation from the AC or heater (AC is being used more this winter than the heater).

---------- Post added at 05:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:23 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Shadeflower

So catasetums and deciduous dendrobiums need rest but with Cattleya's it's a fallacy? Or is it just the cattleya hybrids?

I know neofinetia don't need a rest when care guides state they do.

I can't add anything to the C. warscewiczii.

The orchid doc also says the way to get Trianae and Labiata to flower is to give them less than 14 hours of light in winter. No mention of a rest, too long light hours in winter prevents flowering with them.

Well, I can't think of any Catt hybrids that need a winter rest. Mixing the genetics seems to reduce the need for that. Some species (I'm thinking about nobilior) do need a water rest otherwise they skip blooming and go straight into vegetative growth. However, I've found that many Cattleyas (especially bifoliates) just grow all year round if water is provided and don't need a rest for vegetative or blooming purposes.

I'd say the rest is more related to not providing conditions for rot (e.g. excess moisture, nutrients) when temperatures are low for the home grower and overwatering is easier to do.

[Dusty Ol' Man]

Originally Posted by isurus79

The bottom holes in the tent are now open. my sensorpush tells me it's hovering around 80% today, though outside is around 90% humidity. I suspect that it's working well now. How do you get your humidity in the tent so low? Isn't Lake Charles 10000000% humidity all the time?

The bottom of my tent s open to the room. The a/c is on so the humidity in the house is low to begin with. I only have four (soon to be five) plants in it, though I may change that next week. I wonder if I move the fan up and change its direction if the humidity will increase? When I first set it up as it is, but without the fan, the humidity got up to 90%
And during the fall and winter the humidity down here can get very low. As in the mid 30%s.

[Shadeflower]

Stephen, thanks, still have to build up as much experience as you on the individual species,
since you bring up the nobilior. Does the rest mean the plant does no growing in this time? And then as soon as you see a new pseudobulb forming you start watering more again?