Hello All,
I recently expanded my space for my orchid collection, and I now have orchids in a windowsill in my kitchen. I purchased an aquarium plant light.
Here's the light I purchased:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Now, I know that aquarium lights usually aren't bright enough or aren't the right color temperature. The specifications online indicate that the light produces 4800 lumens and has 6500k white lights WITH added blue lights. I decided to get this less than ideal light since I need something that is powerful yet compact enough to fit in my windowsill. My windowsill does get some nice light during the day but it's probably not enough for phalaenopsis to grow.
Now, I knew that the light might have a bluish tint because of the already cold(er) 6500k lights and added blue lights. When I plugged the light in, my suspicions were correct. The light appears to have more of a 7000k (maybe 7500K) color temperature. To counter-balance this, I thought to get some LED tape that has a warm color temperature or is red in color. I'd just stick the LED tape to the existing light. Here's what I got:
Commercial Electric 12 in. (30 cm) Linkable RGBW Indoor LED Flexible Tape Light Kit (4-Strip Pack)-17898 - The Home Depot
The white lights are 4000K color temperature. It doesn't indicate lumens for the white light colored option. When I plugged in the light it isn't as bright as the aquarium fixture and it doesn't do much to counterbalance the cold color. When I use the white lights it does add a bit more brightness (about 200fc). It doesn't visually appear to counterbalance the cold color temperature. The red light option isn't nearly bright enough to observe a difference. Therefore, I suspect it is useless.
Long story short, my question here is: Is the natural sunlight I get from my window enough to counterbalance the cool color from my LED lights? If not, despite a negligible visual difference in color temperature with the light strips shining red, are they still beneficial? Perhaps the naked eye cannot observe the difference that may be beneficial? OR am I fine doing nothing at all?
Thanks for reading everything! I appreciate your help.