My orchid setup newb

[Phatfarmerbob]

So here’s what I have come up with I’m open to suggestions

Humidity runs 75-80%
Temp runs 73-81° F
Lights go off for 5 hours a day.

[Phatfarmerbob]

Not sure why photos came through lousy… any info on that ?

Also I’ll get pics of my plant tags if I can figure out how to post quality photos

[BobcatJohnson]

19 hours per day with lights seems a bit much to me, but i'm sort of new to growing orchids myself with only a couple years of successfully keeping them alive. I grow indoors and set my light timers to near natural daylight times. My lights come on just before sunrise, and go off just after sunset. Timers adjusted as the days get longer or shorter, with changes of half-hour every two weeks or so. I don't set them to more than 17 hours during the summer, and I let them go down to 11 hours during the winter.

As for temp and humidity the right numbers for you would likely be most dependent on the plants themselves.

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

A lot of orchids seem to be sensitive to day or night length. Many people use a 12 hour on/off schedule. Others use 10 in winter and 12 in summer.

The board software reduces the size of uploaded photos.

[Phatfarmerbob]

Using iPhone I’d love to post better pics…

---------- Post added at 10:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:47 PM ----------

Originally Posted by estación seca

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

A lot of orchids seem to be sensitive to day or night length. Many people use a 12 hour on/off schedule. Others use 10 in winter and 12 in summer.

The board software reduces the size of uploaded photos.

As for daylight why not more? I’m seeing crazy root growth…

[BobcatJohnson]

Most of the orchids that we grow in our homes come from regions of the world near the equator. As such, they have evolved in a climate where the day lengths don't change that dramatically between january and june. Providing them with day lengths that far exceed what they would have found in their natural environment can put the plant under stress it would not find in nature. Some of them may be capable of handling, or even thriving, in the extra light, but many of them need night cycles closer to nature to perform their natural night time functions efficiently.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Phatfarmerbob

As for daylight why not more? I’m seeing crazy root growth…

Plants have a variety of metabolic chemical processes that go on within them. Their occurrence and rates are significantly controlled by temperature and light.

Some happen all the time, some happen only when the plant is receiving light, and others happen only when the plant isn’t receiving light. Your extended day length is driving some while suppressing others.

The observed root growth would be more likely a response to higher humidity and/or greater warmth than to longer days.

[Phatfarmerbob]

I just switched my timer to a 14 hour day.. and added a small heater to make up for the loss of heat from the led’s