Thinking of growing year-round under lights....

[MrHappyRotter]

I grow almost all my orchids indoors year round, and have for many years. The primary reasons for me to make this switch was weather and critters. It seemed like every year, there'd be at least one storm that would blow plants over, cause limbs to fall on the plants and damage them, a random hail storm would rip them to shreds, or some other calamity that would heavily damage some portion of plants. Similarly, I'd find myself dealing with some critter plague or another: ants, roaches, crickets, squirrels, slugs/snails. It was always something. And then, bringing things in for the cooler months would inevitably bring pill bugs, millipedes, centipedes, spiders, bush crickets, roaches, slugs, etc indoors. When I finally had enough, I realized that whatever gains I'd see in the plants from the outdoor living was getting wiped out by damage and "bugs", might as well keep things protected year round.

My collection is heavily geared towards slippers, though I do have a little bit of most of the major groups, and generally speaking all my plants grow fine in low-medium light. So, T12, then T8 fluorescent bulbs in 4 foot shop lights were fine, and now I've mostly made the switch to LED T8 replacement bulbs, though I'm experimenting with other LED lights as well. This is more than sufficient to bloom phrags, paphs, phals, oncidiums, dendrobiums, bromeliads, succulents, and even some cacti. I've never had a ton of luck growing orchids in windows without supplemental light. They seem to stop growing or produce very stunted growths and are so prone to rot. Granted, I haven't had good unobstructed windows in quite a while, and I tend to over nurture (i.e. over water). Under lights, the vast majority of things I grow will continue to grow all year long and I'm happy with that.

In the summer I run the AC quite heavily, so the plants get pretty consistent day & night temps in the upper 70's F to low 80's F that drop to low to mid 70's F at night. During the spring and fall, I usually don't run the AC or heat that much, and open windows at night. Temps are a little more variable at this time, but the nights can sometimes dip into the upper 50's F to low 60's F. And in winter, when I kick the heat on, the temps tend to hit low 70's in the day, and will drop to the upper 50's to lower 60's.

Because I have so many plants sandwiched on the stands, humidity isn't a huge issue most of the time. The plants end up creating their own micro-climate. Most of the time it doesn't dip below 45% - 50%, and unless I air dry my clothes near the plants or run the humidifier, it rarely gets above 70%. Aerial roots on the epiphytes seem to be generally be okay with that range. I do mist the mounted plants almost daily, and I run fans almost constantly.

[Leafmite]

Thank you, MrHappyRotter. My plants and orchids will have a higher light requirement but I think the T5HO lights should be able to handle that. Some plants will have a window and lights for the summer months when the sun goes overhead.

I don't have a problem with my pots getting knocked over by storms due to the lava rock but we do have the neighbors' cats who like to get into the orchids and knock over the pots or just knock the younger seedlings out of the medium. That is one of the reasons some of my orchids did not thrive this past summer.

After these past few years of dealing with all the issues, I am thinking that the problems associated with putting them outside for the summer finally has outweighed the benefits where I am concerned. I admit, I won't miss carrying over a hundred pots of plants outside, only to bring them inside a few days later when we get an unexpected temperature drop.

[rockyfarm]

I enjoyed growing in a greenhouse in Florida but don't believe it justifiable for me now, further north. And I relish the warmth and growth I find in my basement during chilly and cloudy weather!

[Leafmite]

The lights really do make things warm and cozy and helps brighten the dim days during the winter. In Ohio, the cost of heating a greenhouse seems even less justifiable, especially with the constant wind. It is cheaper to run a bunch of lights.

[snowflake311]

Humm interesting. I grow under lights in the winter but my summers are so short here it gets cold fast so They are inside more than out. Mine are only outside for 3 months.

I think the plants do best with natural light and fresh air. I am lucky to not have many bugs where I live nothing that hurts plants just spiders and fruit flies.

I could see keeping the plants inside year round would be good when dealing with bugs. So if it works do it.

[Leafmite]

Thanks!

[Salixx]

I'm sorry if I am duplicating anything someone else has said. I have skimmed the thread but not read everything.

I only grew seven plants outside last summer and next summer I will probably only put the bigger catts outside. I had similar problems as others have mentioned... primarily random nights down into the 40's and hail/wind storms. I also found myself protecting some plants from the rain since they hadn't dried from their last watering. Even with seven plants, shuttling them into and out of the garage all the time got tedious. I am hoping to avoid any soil pests next year by only putting out mounted and s/h growing plants.

So, I have some set-ups that I use for growing and thus far have had success. One is very new, but is based off the concept of the older one, which you can see pictured in this thread, near the bottom:
Thoughts? Ideas? Cool growers in less than idea conditions

I only use LEDs to grow under lights nowadays, which benefits me in multiple ways. The first being that fluorescent bulbs are not nearly as common as they used to be and can be difficult to find (at least this is true for me out where I live in the boonies). They also are considered hazardous waste once they've outlived their usefulness and must be disposed of differently than household waste. LEDs have become incredibly common which has also resulted in a price drop on bulbs. They also don't lose effectiveness like fluorescents and can be chucked in the normal trash. Another plus? They are harder to break and, if I eventually manage to break one, no mercury on the loose! I can now get 60w equivalent daylight LEDs at Walmart for less than $3 each (my electric coop helps with special pricing, so mileage may vary). I have found that I can significantly boost light output by cutting off the plastic bulb around them using my rotary tool, which exposes the diodes (some brands allow you to just twist that thing off, but the wally world brand does not). Finally, I bought adapters on eBay that convert a single light socket into three sockets, that allows me to get more bang for my buck from a single lamp cord I bought on Amazon, which I have suspended over the plants in the new enclosure. Because of the low wattage of LEDs, I still remain well under the limits of the cord using this method.

In the old enclosure, I did not have space for that particular style set up, so I purchased two Finnex FugeRay Planted+ lights that were appropriate length to span the length of each level (note, they ARE pricey, but also designed to stimulate aquatic plant growth so probably also have better wavelengths for growing). My plants are close to the lights (within 10'') and this seems to be doing well. The only plants that really work in this setup though are minis and seedlings. However, it seems to work well so far. My Den. moniliforme, M.atropurpurea and Bulb. auratum have all bloomed (well, the masdie is in spike) under the set-up, each varying distances from the light. Might not seem like much, but many of the plants in this area are not blooming size, are out of season, or I've only recently acquired. Also, a quick note, it does get some natural light, but not much as it is in a north facing window.

Other reasons I liked LEDs: they are much cooler and don't excessively heat my enclosures, which allows me to use the greenhouse cover without much fear. In fact, they help me better achieve the day/night temperature differential much easier. I also have trays of ZooMed Hydroballs in one and aquarium gravel in the other that I fill with water in a traditional humidity tray style. Computer fans in the enclosures circulate the moisture well throughout and they remain at 70% or more humidity.

I am also experimenting with the 3x bulbs on a two catts (a bifoliate unregistered hybrid and a C. forbesii) and my N. falcata to see if they will grow and bloom well. The forbesii has a new growth that's well along the wait to maturity and it's the right time of year, so we'll see on that! They are very close to the lights, as well... 6-8'' at most. My light meter says it's appropriate levels which I can only hope is getting me in the ballpark since I have heard that light meters don't read LEDs well and I find myself too lazy to look up wavelengths and conversions and such. The hybrid cat has purple pigmentation and the forbesii is a nice light green, so I think I'm probably okay.

Anyway, I think I might be a bit tangential and may not have actually addressed anything... but, that's what I do

[Joseia]

I live in a small condo and have to grow all of my orchids and house plants under lights. We don't get any direct sun on the balcony or sole window in the bedroom due to a large tree and even larger building that blocks the southern sky.

I use a combination of Metal Halide, T5HO and LEDs. I also grow all my orchids in Exo Terra terrariums. The MH light is probably overkill for the orchids, but it has worked out great for my two terrariums filled with Latouria Dendrobiums and warm-loving phals. I also have a tank for vandaceous and cattleya alliance orchids. Those tanks reach max temps of 85 under the MH and cool down to around 72 at night, so they get a nice change in temps from day to night. I keep the humidity in those tanks around 75% and have pc fans inside the tanks for good air movement. I also grow some dwarf citrus plants and kitchen herbs/spices under the MH and they love it.

I use the T5s for the phal tanks and a bunch of other house plants outside of tanks. And the LEDs are for low light house plants. The LEDs came from First Rays and my plants really love them.

The MH light is hot and comes in handy during the winter. Since our condo is small and only has one small wall exposed to the outdoors, we don't really get that hot during the summer nor that cold in the winter. Probably use a little more A/C in the summer because of the MH light, but definitely use less furnace in the winter.

Our condo is 973 square feet in size and we have over 50 house plants and orchids combined. No problem with indoor air quality in our home.

[Leafmite]

Salixx, I have been keeping note of the ever improving LED technology. I am going to give it another few years, though, before switching over.

Joseia, it sounds like you have a wonderful garden in that apartment of yours. Plants really do help with the air quality and that is especially important when you live in an apartment building.

I added a pair of alpine strawberries and some herbs to the fluorescent garden. So far, so good.

[rockyfarm]

I held off buying into LEDs until the 'standard shape' warm and cool white 100-watt equivalents became available. They produce a sunlight-appearance and suitable intensity at a better distance than my old tube fluorescent fixtures. I use one brooder clamp reflector over each pair of plants, 2 bulbs per reflector. As the leaves fall outside I relish the life and growth in my artificial garden.