When is it time to move them under lights?

[jeremyinsf]

They probably aren't going to die without lights - many (most) people do not have a light set-up and grow orchids very successfully. I'm sure though up north, you are getting a lot less light, and it's going to continue on that path for quite a while!

Having said all that - I grow most of my plants under lights and think it can be (sorry for the pun...) NIGHT AND DAY in terms of the growth seen, blooming, etc. My electricity bill is higher and it's taken up some space for the light rack, but I no longer keep fresh cut flowers in the house and have offset the expense that way. I love my lights and think they are well worth it.

What lights are you considering?

[butterfly_muse]

Originally Posted by jeremyinsf

They probably aren't going to die without lights - many (most) people do not have a light set-up and grow orchids very successfully. I'm sure though up north, you are getting a lot less light, and it's going to continue on that path for quite a while!

Having said all that - I grow most of my plants under lights and think it can be (sorry for the pun...) NIGHT AND DAY in terms of the growth seen, blooming, etc. My electricity bill is higher and it's taken up some space for the light rack, but I no longer keep fresh cut flowers in the house and have offset the expense that way. I love my lights and think they are well worth it.

What lights are you considering?

We were considering a few of Ray's LEDs because I'm not a mass collector like most of the people on here ^^; My fiance is an engineer so I'm sure he'd like the task of building a structure for each type of plant (since phals need less intensity than the cattleyas do) lol. Plus they won't be a huge suck on the energy bill, which is important, since our new apartment is crazy inefficient and our bill over summer even keeping the temperature at 85 degrees has been ridiculously high.