Home-made orchid light stand.

[FairyInTheFlowers]

Hi, I was planning on building a stand to grow orchids under lights with my Dad, and I was wondering how far I should have the lights above the plants if I use T-12 lights? I am planning on having two, two bulb ballasts on each of the two levels. I need to know the distances because I am going to be using leftover hardwood from our new house we built! Any input would be GREAT! I will post pics once it is built.(If I can figure out how to !)

[johnblagg]

well actually we would need to know which orchids you plan on growing to start with ...

catts come in so many different heights it is kind of hard to be definitive untill you know that for them ...

second from small seedling size to mature is going to require adjusting the heights of the lights as the get taller so you need at least a foot of room to adjust the lights higher as plants get taller ...

the height above the plants from what I have read for t12's is going to be about 6 inches above the top of tips of leaves....I use a 250 watt high pressure sodium and for that one I keep it 32 inches above top of leaves for my catts.

[Call_Me_Bob]

Originally Posted by johnblagg

well actually we would need to know which orchids you plan on growing to start with ...

catts come in so many different heights it is kind of hard to be definitive untill you know that for them ...

second from small seedling size to mature is going to require adjusting the heights of the lights as the get taller so you need at least a foot of room to adjust the lights higher as plants get taller ...

the height above the plants from what I have read for t12's is going to be about 6 inches above the top of tips of leaves....I use a 250 watt high pressure sodium and for that one I keep it 32 inches above top of leaves for my catts.

for catts? t12s 6 inches? i was advised 3 inches


my phals are 8 inches away from four t12s

[johnblagg]

I dont use t 12s so you are probably correct Bob

[Call_Me_Bob]

i just got my t12s, so im still working out the kinks. someone actually told me they wouldnt be good enough for catts. but the guy who gave me the lights bloomed catts under them. and he said 3 inches, so i think three inches is a good starting place for catts.

its cool that you are going to do this with your dad!

[FairyInTheFlowers]

Do you think I should have it about 20 inches from the humidity tray, and then just put pots inder the plants to adjust the height?

[Call_Me_Bob]

here is what i do. i have a shelf unit for my plant. each tier has a light fixture above it with four t12 bulbs. i have one shelf for cattleyas and other light-lovers. and one shelf for phals and overs with the same light requirements.

next, i measure the tallest plant for each shelf. place the humidity tray there and then place your tallest plant on top of it. for -example, my tallest light-lover is 15" ( when its on the humidity tray. so its 15" including the tray. ). so since i want the lights about 3-4" away, i hang them accordingly. for anything shorter than that cattleya, i use overturned pots and anything else i can find to prop the shorter plants up.

here is a picture of my set-up, just so you can get a mental image of one of the many ways to do this.

as you can see from the pic, i used just about anything i can to prop the plants up. eventually i will build boxes around the lights, and find something else that looks better to prop the plants up. but this works for me for now.