Just bought 3 High Output T5 light fixtures... have questions...

[Singingirl96]

Hello all of you who grow under lights...

I just bought 3 - 4' High Output T5 light fixtures from e-bay... now I'm second guessing my purchase. Each fixture has two bulbs, one in the blue spectrum and one in the red spectrum.

I have a 4' 4-tier metal shelf unit by an east facing window where I keep my orchids... they are a mix of catleyas, dens and phals.

I've had good luck with my phals and paphs, but I could only get 2 of my catts to flower. So I thought I should boost the lighting.

The plan is to strap one of these lights above each shelf, but I have another problem... humidity. So I was thinking about covering the sides of the shelf unit with vinyl and adding humidity trays underneath.

Just now I read about how hot these lights get.... which means that it wouldn't be safe to enclose it all in clear vinyl... How hot do these things actually get?

What would you suggest I do to best solve my problem? some of my plants are getting really dry and wrinkled, especially my cattleyas. I must add more humidity and light.

Any suggestion is much appreciated.