New set-up using T5 hanging fixture! And a ? about a heat mat.

[PrognatusAfera]

My dad was awesome and helped me hang this Hydrofarm T5 (from the Jumpstart set) from my ceiling, because the stand it came with was more problematic than useful for my particular context (if I find I need to be adjusting the height more often, then I'll just add a few links of chain to the ends of the lines from the ceiling so I can adjust from the bottom).
I used my light meter to arrange the plants underneath, and it seems to work out alright. I think tonight when I get home I'm going to put some wood or bricks or whatever underneath the wooden tray to raise the mounts (mostly Catts) up a few inches closer.

I also put a hydrofarm heat mat in underneath the black pebble tray, but I'm wondering if it's going to be effective there, through the plastic tray, pebbles, and water. I felt the water in the morning, and it was definitely warm, but not particularly. It had only been on a few hours by then though, so maybe it'll heat more??
What do you think, do I need to take the sweeties out of their ceramic orchid pots so their roots can access the heat? (They're in clear plastic inside there.)

[Pilot]

The simple answer to your question is, yes. The heat is meant to benefit root health and development and in this case they're not getting that.

Nice set up.

[PrognatusAfera]

Alright, that's what I thought, thanks!! The ceramic is pretty, but that's alright--taking them off the table means MORE SPACE FOR MORE PLANTS!!!
Yessss.
I'll just save the ceramics for when I need to make things look pretty downstairs on the dining table.

[JaneEyre]

Nice set up.
I got a chuckle when I saw you are sacrificing your desk for orchids. Every inch of my desk is covered with orchids. No real work happens there.

[PrognatusAfera]

Originally Posted by JaneEyre

Nice set up.
I got a chuckle when I saw you are sacrificing your desk for orchids. Every inch of my desk is covered with orchids. No real work happens there.

Ha! Yea, most of my orchids are desk orchids--good sunny spots of any form are scarce in my house, so I basically just resorted to converting my one good, largeish surface into one. Wait till you see the other spot in my bedroom that gets the honor--I've converted a fruit basket stand into an orchid shelf, with lights bolted to the wall AND a floor lamp to keep them happy... I'll post a pic of that when I get home.
My parents have long accepted the fact that I'm crazed.
I'm currently trying to find some nice darker-loving orchids to go on the lower two baskets of that set-up.

[naoki]

Did your pots became warmer, Prognatus? With my seedling heat mats, the heat doesn't reach too far. When there was about 1/8-1/4" of space between the mat and pots, I couldn't see any measurable increase in temp around the pots. This could be partly due to moderate amount of air movement around the region. So I had to put the pots directly on it to see any difference.

[JaneEyre]

Originally Posted by PrognatusAfera

Ha! Yea, most of my orchids are desk orchids--good sunny spots of any form are scarce in my house, so I basically just resorted to converting my one good, largeish surface into one. Wait till you see the other spot in my bedroom that gets the honor--I've converted a fruit basket stand into an orchid shelf, with lights bolted to the wall AND a floor lamp to keep them happy... I'll post a pic of that when I get home.
My parents have long accepted the fact that I'm crazed.
I'm currently trying to find some nice darker-loving orchids to go on the lower two baskets of that set-up.

I'd love to see your converted fruit basket stand. Sounds interesting.

[PrognatusAfera]

Originally Posted by JaneEyre

I'd love to see your converted fruit basket stand. Sounds interesting.

Here's the orchid basket stand!!
Actually... there are only two little orchids on there at the very moment... the rest actually got transferred onto the desk. So... I ordered some more seedlings today to take up those spots!!!

The light's not as awesome in the bottom two baskets, since the floor lamp doesn't do too much for those (shadow issues). So they only get the leftovers of that plus their share of the grow lights bolted to the wall (which I have to say aren't going to be too effective until I can get my hands on better bulbs for them), so I picked shadier plants for there.

[JaneEyre]

Very cool. I already see it in my mind full of happy orchids.

[PrognatusAfera]

Thanks, I hope so!