Ceramic metal halide grow

[Orchidtinkerer]

wise move steve, it did seem like overkill. I have a grow area the size of yours that I only use 60 watts of LED's for. If you do go for LED's in the future you could probably easily get away with using 100watt or even less.

[thefish1337]

I've had my orchids under the sabers for about a month- they are great lights. One thing to note is that without the IR you may have to add heat to get the same growth rate (with all other things equivalent). I'm not running the sabers in a closed tent but they do not put off a lot of heat.

Also, don't be too worried about the lack of UV and infared for your orchids... a lot of it is marketing hype. IR has primarily shown to increase dry matter in lettices, the effects on other crops have variable utility and there isn't much research on it for ornamentals like orchids.

One more thing: I recommend buying potentiometers because the lights are really bright and when you have to work on your collection it can be really nice to dim them down to give your eyes a break.

[Steve83]

Thank you for the heads up on the potentiometers thefish1337. They'd certainly make acclimation for new plants go easier.