Lighting basics

[King of diamonds]

Artificial light, the bane of anyone with aspirations of indoor plant cultivation. I have some unbelievably basic information to gather on lighting a 13gal tank enough for 3-4 Phals but have so far been stumped at every turn by this utterly confusing and contradictory subject. This may just be my inability to study in the holidays but I am sure that others have similar issues with lighting.

Is there a good source for information on light requirements of various types of orchids? Almost everything I have come across so far for Phalaenopsis recommends something different - half the sites say place four 60w fluorescent bulbs 10cm away while others insist that this is unnecessary and two 21w bulbs will be sufficient.

How much of a factor does color play? I realize it would be useful for light intensive orchids but for things like Phals is it really necessary or is standard white fine?

The plants in question are just NOIDs from a local supermarket that have done flowering so I can have them cheap. They look like Hsinying but my orchid identifying isn't really up to much. They are decent size plants with four to five flowers each (I have been looking every time I go past them) with large healthy leaves. They are potted in bark and seem perfectly happy. These are the only orchids I have so far though when I have these set up I will look at getting more.


Please help as this subject makes very little sense to me and I really need assistance. There may already be a section for this but I have so far unable to find it. If there is one feel free to direct me and/or delete this post.

[Paphman910]

Why don't you just get a single 24 Watt CFL that are T5HO and that should be fine for a 13 gallon tank. You will need to modify a computer fan with a 6-9 Volt output cellphone jack to keep the tank with some air circulation.

Paphman910

[King of diamonds]

Do they make T5HO compact florescent? All I have managed to find are tube T5 lights. I have a modified psu to run a fan, using a 120mm at the moment but have a variety of others if something else is more suitable.

[Paphman910]

How many watts are the T5?

Paphman910

[james mickelso]

Yeah!!! What he said (;

[King of diamonds]

Most of the ones I have found in my price range are round 20w. They are the round style