orchid under red light

[saniti]

Red light help plants flowering. Spiral CFL Compact Florescent Colored Light Bulbs 13 Watts

[WhiteRabbit]

Cool!

[silken]

Interesting. That's a very nice bud too!

[Ray]

1) What is the wattage of the red lamp?
2) How far is it from the plant?
3) Is that the sole light source? I doubt that it is, or this would likely be a good example of how poorly a plant will do under exclusively red light.

Yes, and plant needs red light wavelengths, and there is a connection between red and blooming, but we have to understand that the plant needs all wavelengths in the 400-700 nm range to grow well, and that by getting all of those in adequate supply, the plant will bloom to its best.

[naoki]

I thought that connection between red light and blooming is more for photoperiodic plants (more specifically long day plants). Some orchids are photoperiodic, but your plants looks like Phal. cornu-cervi related species/hybrid, which doesn't seem to be particularly photoperiodic.

[Laserbeak]

I've become accustomed to living in a strange pink glow with all the LED grow lights I have.

[My Green Pets]

NICE photos esp that last one,

As for red light, there's at least one more house plant I know for which that they recommend metal halide (white) lamps for vegetative stage and high-pressure sodium (orange tinge) for flowering.

Trouble is I've never seen a proper experiment testing different types of lighting on different groups of plants during different times in the growth cycle. I'm sure there must have been some done though...

[Ray]

MH lamps are strong in blue, and weak in red. HPS are just the opposite. Put the two together and you have much better conditions for the plants, but general a great deal of heat, as well.


Ray Barkalow
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[My Green Pets]

Originally Posted by Ray

Put the two together and you have much better conditions for the plants, but general a great deal of heat, as well.

On that note, there are a few cooling options available, the most popular including air-cooled lights with exhaust fans and tubing to direct the heat somewhere else (could be useful in winter!)

But I've got my eyes on those LED's. It won't be long before they're producing LED's that are as bright as those mercury vapor, metal halide, or high pressure sodium lamps (if they're not already?) at a fraction of the electricity consumption.

[Laserbeak]

Plants generally need red and blue light for photosynthesis. Green light is mostly reflected, which is why plants appear to be green to us.