My low budget grow tent...

[Tetra73]

Originally Posted by Jeff214

Hi Flowerpower,

No I had not heard of it but I want to do it after all the amazing images on google! Since Phals go on sale very soon, maybe I'll give it a try with one. Thanks for the info!

---------- Post added at 07:36 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:23 AM ----------

very nice light fixture!

Are the light fixtures on top of your grow tent not providing enough light for your orchids? I would think that you would get better spread and coverage from above.

This is making me remember an architectural lighting science class I took some time ago... candelas, lumens, lux...

Is not. The tent is 4ft tall. I have 6 t8 bulbs there. Even under 6" near the bulbs, I am getting less than 2000 fc. They are enough for Phals and my other plants. Barely sufficient for dendrobium and oncidium. That's why I need additional LED bulb fixture by the front to bump my light to 2000 to 3000 fc near the front. In the middle, I am getting an average about 1500 fc to 2000 fc. The cattleya leaves have a bit of red tints by the edge. The dendrobium leaves are somewhat more yellow than green now. The leaves on the oncidium has a bit of yellowing at the edge too.

The thing with the fluorescent bulb fixture is that their light do not reach far down below, either T5 or T5HO. I don't believe tall orchids would do well in these lighting setup. Too much light by the top and not enough light by the bottom. My dendrobium cane is about 18" tall. I am expecting it to grow to 3 ft, maybe.

[Tetra73]

It has been almost a month from my last update on my tent.

Some photos from this morning and added few plants there too.

1 by vracing, on Flickr


I picked up this pink neoregelia bromeliad at Ikea for $10. Is almost 2ft in dia total.

7 by vracing, on Flickr

2 by vracing, on Flickr


I think my dendrobium frosty dawn has reached its max height on the cane because the latest new leaf didn't show another opposite new growth. Here is a flower spike by the top section. Only have one so far and maybe seeing up to 6 more potential spikes by the eyes.

3 (2) by vracing, on Flickr


New roots are everywhere. They have been growing really fast for the last month.

4 by vracing, on Flickr

A new pseudo bulb is growing on my sharry baby. About a month old now.
5 by vracing, on Flickr

My orchid section on the left.
6 by vracing, on Flickr

Oh, for the gold club moss growing issues? I think I solved it. Right now, they are covered with some clear plastic food wrapping in order to prevent ANY direct air flow over it. They just don't like air flow, period.

[bil]

Originally Posted by flowerpower

Have you ever heard of Kokedama? Several youtubers demonstrate the technique of using a moss ball mount for orchids. It's a technique that came from Japan. Imagine a round ball of moss and a little phal mounted in it. I was considering giving it a try on a small hybrid phal and water it with my vanda.

I would far rather see a phal mounted on a forked btanch with a pad of moss. I have seen some koedama mounts, and I feel they have way too much moss to dry out quickly.

[Tony Meola]

How do you run the computer fan? Are you using a 12 volt battery that you recharge or did you purchase a 110 to 12 volt converter?

[Tetra73]

Originally Posted by Tony Meola

How do you run the computer fan? Are you using a 12 volt battery that you recharge or did you purchase a 110 to 12 volt converter?

A 12v AC adapter. I have plenty of those. One has variable voltages and so I could adjust the fan speed. The one by the orchids is running at 12v and somewhat a quieter fan. The other is running at 9v and is a bit noisier..

[Tony Meola]

Thank You

I have two and was trying to figure out the best way of running them.

[Tetra73]

Originally Posted by Tony Meola

Thank You

I have two and was trying to figure out the best way of running them.

Some fans are slower and more quieter. So, you can just feed 12v to it. In fact, you can hook up multiple fans with one single adapter since the fan current is really low.

[Tony Meola]

Actually was hoping to do that. I had two old computers I pulled fans out of. I have one more laying around I need to strip also.

[Nexogen]

I use cellular charger or wireless 5V power supply, purchased from the Salvation Army = $ 1
Of course, fans are for 12V but runs at a good speed and not make noise.

[bil]

It's an impressive set up. but the one thing I would suggest would be to put a branch in there and wire the orchids in those plastic pots directly to the branch. Those plastic pots spoil the natural look of the rest of it.