Do I need supplemental lighting for my phalaenopsis orchids?!

[Orchid grower]

Hello everyone!

I previously created another thread for my otherwise seeming to be healthy phals that dont spike. I got some amazing advice from there! I apologize if I should have continued with my thread but I wanted to focus more on lighting.

I am going to include some pics of my current growing setup. My phals sit by a west facing window. My pics show my phals getting some direct light but this is only for a little bit until the sun shifts.

Now my question is after looking at my setup do you think supplemental lighting could be beneficial for my orchids? I want them to be healthy and in a state where they are able to spike if they want to.

The days have started getting longer and sunnier so I dont know if I'm better off just leaving everything as is or if some extra lighting could do some good.

I do not want to invest alot of money for the lights, I'm thinking of spending around CAD $30-60. I'm going to add some links of what I am considering.

Any advice or input on this topic would be greatly appreciated! I'm a complete newbie when it comes to grow lights. Thank you all in advance.

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[Mountaineer370]

OG, I am far from qualified to answer your question, being someone who has been in the same position as you, that is, having very healthy looking Phals that simply don't want to bloom. I've posted about it before and been advised pretty unanimously that I don't have enough light. My orchids are in an unobstructed south-facing window that is roughly twice the size of the window in your picture, and mine also sit closer to the window than the ones in your pictures. I think it's safe to say yours are getting less light than mine.

So, I've recently decided to experiment with some modest supplemental lighting. In my case, I chose two full-spectrum fluorescent floor lamps that I have positioned at either end of the table, so between the two lamps, all of the plants on the table are receiving light.

I only started with these lights about a month ago, but before that, three of my five Phals had surprised me by spiking and blooming. This was also without any change in temperature. My thermostat stays at a constant temperature day and night, although, in winter, it's possibly a degree or two cooler right next to that big window at night.

So all this is to say I give up on trying to figure out what makes Phals bloom. I'll be following this thread with interest, as I am your other thread.

[fooferdoggie]

pals don't need any special light. you can be as simple as a 15 watt 5k flood light. there are light of simple lights that will work. I put mine on a demo wireless switch that's easy to program.

[Ray]

Judging by the fact that there is some light falling directly on some of those plants, I'd say "no" to needed supplemental lighting.

If anything, I'd move those plants back a bit to prevent direct sunlight from hitting them.

[Pippa]

Mine are spiking fine with a bit less light than yours seem to have.

[twinkie]

Originally Posted by Orchid grower

Hello everyone!

I previously created another thread for my otherwise seeming to be healthy phals that dont spike. I got some amazing advice from there! I apologize if I should have continued with my thread but I wanted to focus more on lighting.

I am going to include some pics of my current growing setup. My phals sit by a west facing window. My pics show my phals getting some direct light but this is only for a little bit until the sun shifts.

Now my question is after looking at my setup do you think supplemental lighting could be beneficial for my orchids?

I read your other thread too as I had questions about too much light but you are even further North than I am, and imo you do need supplemental light. Unless you have sunshine in that tiny tiny slice of window every day and for several straight hours, you need more light. I have mine in a S facing window twice the span and height of yours, right up close less than 12" from the window on a large plant rack with staggered heights for Cattleya, Oncidium, Zygos etc and the phals are in constant bloom except for 2. I use a simple screw in full spectrum grow light in a goose neck lamp and two overhead grow light tubes in a ceiling fixture plus have a skylight which gives them overhead all during the day (which can be extremely gray and overcast here). You might want to put some sheer curtains instead of the vertical blinds so you can capture as much light as possible even on very sunny summer days, but for winter up North in Canada I can't imagine not supplementing light and also moving them closer. You could move them in increments of a 5 inches or so over a few weeks until they are closer and I would monitor the leaves when the sun is hitting them and if you feel real warmth with your hand, pull the sheers, if not, let them be. On very chilly freezing nights I pull the miniblinds, sheers and also spread a mylar sheet over the South and North windows where I have some shadier loving phals.

My orchids respond to the supplemental light and are doing very well blooming, and I know this would not be so without that light. There are just too many overcast and stormy days here in Winter so I would tick off how many days of true sunshine you get per year on average plus how many hours (if any) you get coming through that window (especially in Winter) and go by that. People who live in more Southern states don't realize the true gloom some of their Northern neighbours live in. We've got shorter daylight and stormy weather to contend with. I've got ice in the birdbath right now even though the sun's out, it's freezing every night for the last few weeks and we've had snow.

I'd go for simple screw-in low watt full spectrum grow lights with the wide cover cheapie metal fixtures
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and aim two from opposite sides as another poster here said. Aim them from up above coming down on top your plants maximum 3.5 feet away.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by twinkie

I read your other thread too as I had questions about too much light but you are even further North than I am, and imo you do need supplemental light. Unless you have sunshine in that tiny tiny slice of window every day and for several straight hours, you need more light.

Sorry, but that's incorrect.

In nature, phalaenopsis are deep shade plants, and most never see any direct sunlight. In fact, phalaenopsis grown in shade will usually grow and flower better than those grown in bright light.

That brassavola you finally identified in that other thread definitely needs more light than most orchids, however.

[twinkie]

Originally Posted by Ray

Sorry, but that's incorrect.

In nature, phalaenopsis are deep shade plants, and most never see any direct sunlight. In fact, phalaenopsis grown in shade will usually grow and flower better than those grown in bright light.

That brassavola you finally identified in that other thread definitely needs more light than most orchids, however.

Well I'm sure you know much more than I do about the subject but am going on experience of deep dark Northern Winters where we may not see the sun for a whole month or more, being a fleeting 'brightness' at that with no real rays of sun. I've got continuous bloom spikes coming up with my current lighting system so am not changing that over to dark gloom for 9 months out of the year. I guess we all find what works or doesn't, in the end.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by twinkie

Well I'm sure you know much more than I do about the subject but am going on experience of deep dark Northern Winters where we may not see the sun for a whole month or more, being a fleeting 'brightness' at that with no real rays of sun. I've got continuous bloom spikes coming up with my current lighting system so am not changing that over to dark gloom for 9 months out of the year. I guess we all find what works or doesn't, in the end.

Hah! You and I both made some assumptions here - you that the photo represented a momentary flash of sunlight, and I that it was the normal lighting, so I apologize for calling you out on that.

Two years ago I moved from PA to southeast NC, so had a major upgrade in the days of clear skies and sun, especially over the winter, going from almost none to almost all, so I guess I've become spoiled in that short time.

However, I will state again that phals are deep shade plants, and do very well with no direct sun at all - mine are in north-facing windows in winter and on a deck on the north side of the house all summer, and have never done better.

[Mountaineer370]

Well, my head is spinning. As I said, I've discussed my problem of non-blooming plants several times before on this board. In fact, based on what I had learned, I rehomed all of my orchids except for Phals and a few Paphs.

I have frequently described my plants sitting in a large south window where they will get direct sun off and on during the day (on the days when the sun is shining, of course). I do have sheer curtains that can be closed if it's really hot there, but that rarely happens with my high-efficiency windows and the abundance of cloudy days in Michigan.

Still, I have been told that I don't have enough light. Artificial lighting is not practical for me, so I have resisted, but I recently did acquire the two fluorescent floor lamps, thinking it was what was needed. My plants have never shown any signs of too much light, i.e., sunburn on the leaves, very, very light-colored leaves, reddish edges on the leaves, etc.

So, apparently, one of two things is happening. Either my plants are getting too much light or they're not getting enough. I really don't know anymore, and I'm having a hard time understanding how the advice can change so drastically from one thread to another. It's enough to make a person just want to give up on orchids.