Grow tent for Orchids questions

[akhenenra]

Hi everyone,

I have a grow tent in my basement that I use for a variety off plants. I got a mini phal as a present about 18 months ago and I stuck it in there after blooming to just see what happened (I've never been great with orchids before). anyway it seemed to thrive and I do love orchids so I got a bunch more and have them all in there. I'm curious if anyone has any experience specifically with a grow tent.

The tent is 5x5, I have a 600w HPS light in there, exhaust fan, humidifier. Light 18 hrs a day. When the light's on its around 80 in there 60-70% humidity. Lights off it's around 65 depending on the season.I am sometimes concerned the light is too strong or hot for the orchids but I have done the feel test on the leaves and they are not hot to the touch, but warm. they are low to the ground in there so about 4 feet away from the light. They are all potted in clear plastic orchid pots with a mix I made of 60%bark, 30%leica balls, and 10% perlite. I come around and mist then regularly but I am still trying to figure out the best watering schedule for them, kinda by trial and error. I have variety of FoxFarm fertilizers from my other plants and am low key experimenting to see which one is best for the orchids (diluted).

Any thoughts please let me know. I have heard LED lights are better for orchids but I have other plants in there so I need to compromise. For the orchids, I have phals, cattleyas, dendrobium, oncidium, vanda. Most of them are babies I got on the cheap so I am hoping to get them to mature and bloom in the next 1-2 years. I know different orchids have different light requirements so some advice would be appreciated, or if you grow in a similar setup and have some tips please let me know! I would really appreciate some advice or critique of my system. Thank you!

[Dorchid]

Howdy! There are a couple of us here that grow in tents. I would ditch the hps and get some leds from hlg or the orchid hobbyist. You won’t need the exhaust then and will further reduce energy consumption and expense. Other than the light the setup sounds good.

[estación seca]

Different kinds of orchids have different light requirements. Phals are low light plants.

The energy savings from switching to LEDs will quickly pay for the new lighting.

[orchidman77]

I agree with all of the above and would add that 18 hrs a day is likely too long for your plants long-term; my (LED) lights are on for a max of 15 hrs during the summer, and I will taper them to less for the winter season - your mileage may vary on this. You have orchids with a huge variety of light requirements all in the same space; one way to help compensate is to have the higher-light orchids closer to the light source than the low-light orchids. Good luck with the tent; I think it's a great way to grow orchids for many of us!

David

[akhenenra]

thank you all very much! I don't think I can switch from the HPS bulb at this time due to the requirements of the other plants I have- maybe I'll need to get an orchids only tent at some point .

I'll definitely move them around to different levels- thank you for that suggestion. I get concerned about the heat from the HPS lamp but there is good circulation in there with the exhaust. Thanks again

[Steve83]

You're going to nuke that with 600w HPS, trust me lol

I initially ran a 315w CMH, in a similar sized tent, and that was not fun to manage.

I now run 2 100w HLG Sabers, dimmed down to 65w? each, in a 4x4 atm. Brassavola hybrids up top, Masdies down below.

[akhenenra]

Originally Posted by Steve83

You're going to nuke that with 600w HPS, trust me lol

I initially ran a 315w CMH, in a similar sized tent, and that was not fun to manage.

I now run 2 100w HLG Sabers, dimmed down to 65w? each, in a 4x4 atm. Brassavola hybrids up top, Masdies down below.

What do you mean nuke? Yes it's warm in there but not overly so, it peaks around 80. It has high humidity and good inline ventilation so I don't think the plants are cooking. I just spent quite a bit of time in there with my lux meter moving plants around, it was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be to get the Cattleyas (45000 lux) close enough to the light for that. Maybe I'm missing something? Even the Phals weren't getting enough where I had them originally (the floor of the tent). Is there something I'm not getting? I got my lux meter requirements for each type from a chart I found on this board and also some info from the AOS.

[Steve83]

By nuke, I mean with potentially too much light. CAM photosynthesis plays into this as well, along with shading from other plants, etc.

Your night/day temp swing is nice. and I want to make it clear I have nothing against HPS lighting. But they may not be able to keep up with that amount of light for an extended period of time.

[Dimples]

Originally Posted by akhenenra

I just spent quite a bit of time in there with my lux meter moving plants around, it was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be to get the Cattleyas (45000 lux) close enough to the light for that. Maybe I'm missing something? Even the Phals weren't getting enough where I had them originally (the floor of the tent). Is there something I'm not getting? I got my lux meter requirements for each type from a chart I found on this board and also some info from the AOS.

The lux recommendations are based on a natural bell curve of light throughout the day. Low and building in the AM, peak high, then a slow fade in the PM. Unless you see a lighting recommendation specifically states it is for growing under lights, assume it is for natural light. If you try to replicate the peak using artificial lighting for hours on end you will burn your plants. Look at this article from Ray's site.

---------- Post added at 05:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:02 PM ----------

I just did the lux to foot candles conversion and definitely cut your target light intensities by at least half.
45,000lux = 4,180fc

[Dusty Ol' Man]

Growing Orchids Under Artificial Light
– High Desert Orchids