fluorescent light - Questions - Orchid Board

Singingirl96 · #1 11-15-2009, 01:12 PM

Hello. I currently own 30+ orchids (phals, paphs, cats and dens). I have them in east and west windows. All my paphs, phals and dens rebloom fine. My cats on the other hand need a little more help. I have 6 and only 2 have rebloomed.

So I thought about adding a strip or two of fluorescent lights on the wire shelf where they are.

Question: I have 2 fish tank light hoods that I was thinking about using. What type of lightbulbs should I use? Should I get standard lightbulbs or are they special lightbulbs?

I looked at my local pet store and they have all kinds of sunlight lightbulbs that would fit on my hood. Can I get any suggestions from you on what to get? Thanks.

Ross · #2 11-15-2009, 01:25 PM

I tried that once and just couldn't get enough light to make any difference. Why not get a bare bulb compact florescent bulb (or 2

) and hang them close to the plants you want to light? Here is my setup

I use 105 watt CFs (they are equiv of 500 watts incandescnt) 105 Watt CFL - 420 W Equal - Full Spectrum 5000K - Spring Lamp - EIKO 81180 Light Bulb They work like a champ. Just a thought.

quiltergal · #3 11-15-2009, 07:01 PM

I just zip tied 2 4' T5 flor to the bottom of each shelf on my grow rack. Not having them in a traditional "hood" allows the heat to dissipate faster so the plants don't fry. They are low profile so take up very little space. I saw a huge difference in my plants after setting up the lights.

Claire25 · #4 11-21-2009, 11:52 AM

Wow, I'm surprised you've gotten the Dendros. and Catts to rebloom in the lighting you describe. You must be blessed with very bright light at your windows! From my experience (using a 4-tube, 4-foot shop-light fixture), fluorescent bulbs simply do not put out the wavelength of light needed to flower many orchids (even the "grow light" bulbs are too blue; you need a lot of light in the red end of the spectrum to flower Dendros. and Catts). I've flowered Paphs beneath them, and possibly some Phals, but that's about it. On the other hand, I've had great results flowering my Dendro. and my Catts beneath a metal halide light setup--that baby cranks out enough light to get a tan under! (Well, almost!)

quiltergal · #5 11-23-2009, 12:20 PM

Claire I'm not sure what kind of bulbs you were using in the shop light setup, T12s maybe? At any rate the new generation of grow lights (T5s) are much smaller and really crank out the lumens. They are bright enough to give my Catts and Dens red edges or freckles on their leaves. The window certainly helps. It faces southwest. However, when I was growing with just the light from the window nothing but the Phals bloomed. I'm using T5s in the 6400K range because they are less expensive. Even in that range, which is a lot more blue than Ross's 5000K, I have no trouble getting anything to bloom. A bazillion pot growers can't be wrong!

Erce · #6 11-23-2009, 12:31 PM

If you use a warm white and a cool white - you will have all the spectres coverd - i use bulps from osram, i use the color 865 and 830 - and my chid are happy and reeblooming like crazy

Fred Pippin · #7 11-23-2009, 01:34 PM

any full spectrum bulb will work. Most are called 'sunlight" They are cheeper than plant lights and work just as good. Cattleyas need around 12-14 hrs per day of light

orchidbingo · #8 11-23-2009, 06:45 PM

I'm using T8 basic shoplights with a mixture of 5000k and 6500k and I've had great luck reblooming catts, oncidium intergens and even bloomed an Ascocenda under these lights. First time to ever bloom a vanda type under lights.Just posted a picture in the Vanda alliance forum yesterday.
T5 are more efficient but I bought more orchids instead of replacing my old T8 set-up with T5's.

Good luck.

bingo

josterha · #9 11-23-2009, 07:03 PM

I'm having great luck with my new fixtures. Albeit, I'm only growing paphs, phals, and Dtps. I have virtually no sunlight and am growing on a three-tiered shelve using T8 natural sunlight bulbs from Phillips. I would not dare try Catts in this light. I'm happy with what I have, though.

John

orchidbingo · #10 11-23-2009, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by josterha

I would not dare try Catts in this light.

John

You should try it, John.

I have exclusively T8's on 3-tiered wire shelves and I've bloomed and re-bloomed lots of catts this way! They do not receive much sunlight as they are 4 feet away from the nearest window. Admittedly most of them are Catt hybrids, but my C. jenmanii has a bud about to open and my C. purpurata var. carnea is in sheath. I keep the lights on for 14 hours a day.

bingo