Phal. Gan Lin Royal Yellow Care

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by Chlorophile

Sounds complicated but perhaps not.

It only sounds complicated, but it can be as simple or as complicated as you'd like it to be.

Originally Posted by Chlorophile

Is there a cheap way to provide supplemental lighting?

Yes there is. You can buy an aluminum dome with light fixture for about $10 - $20. The bulbs can be CFL or LED, and for Phals, it doesn't have to be high powered. You can buy these at your local hardware store such as The Home Depot or Lowe's, or whatever is near you.

Originally Posted by Chlorophile

And what do I look for when picking one good for a phal? For that matter, what would be the difference between a supplemental light for the phal vs one for the maxillaria? I'm assuming wattage?

For Maxillarias, it depends on the species. What species is it?

Certain Maxillarias grow under pretty bright light.

It's not so much the wattage as it is the amount of light output the bulbs produce. A 40W LED can be rated to produce as much as about 3,600 lumens.

Kelvin (plasma) temperature does matter too. I'd shoot for anything between 5,000K - 7,000K.

[Ray]

Personally, I like the Cree floodlights available from Home Depot (mail order only, for me).

You can vary the distance from the lamp to the plant to compensate for the required light intensity.