LED panels from Aliexpress?

[murph7]

Hi everybody, first post here, and starting to read the vast info available.

I live in Zurich with a Hardness level of 7-8.

Here are my current orchids:

I have the following on three shelves on a south facing window (with a thin curtain).

Phals: 30% rebloomed

Oncidiums: 1 out of 2 rebloomed

Brassia and Cambria: A lot of new pseudobulbs, but no flowers. (so lack of light?)

Cattleyas: new growths but in one the flower blasted and the other one had none.

Cymbidium: they stay outside during spring, summer, fall. Lot of growth. Then when it was too chilly, stayed also with the other ones. During winter, I had new flower stalks, but blasted all of them.

Masdevallia: New growths, no flowers.

So it seems to me that I might lack light. I was thinking of supplementing it with LED panels, and I found ones quite affordable in Aliexpress.

There are strips such as

(5pcs/lot) led grow light 660nm red and 455nm blue led lamp for plants, EU and American plug switch wire ,input voltage 85 265V-in LED Grow Lights from Lights & Lighting on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

But there are also these panels with

1pcs LAPUTA 300W Led Grow Light Full Spectrum Led Plant Growth Lamp 380 840nm for Greenhouse Plant Flowering Grow Tent-in LED Grow Lights from Lights & Lighting on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

Item Type: LAPUTA Mini 300W LED Grow Light
Draw Power: 70W-80W ±5%
Number of LED: 70Red + 20Blue + 8White + 1IR + 1UV (Total 100pcs chips)
Size(Long-Width-Height): 300mmX168mmX58mm
Emitting Color: Full Spectrum Color (Veg and Bloom)
Wavelength: Red(620-630nm;650-660nm); Blue(440-450nm;450-460nm);
Orange(600-610nm); IR(730nm); White(3500K;6000K) ,UV(395-410nm)

There are also more affordable ones with only red and blue LEDs

20W/30W/45W/120W High Power Plant lamp AC85~265V Full Spectrum LED Greenhouse Plants Hydroponics Flower Panel Grow Light-in LED Grow Lights from Lights & Lighting on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

from 20 W to 200 W.

Here is my question

What do I need to supplement my setup?

The panels above cannot be dimmed (as far as I know since the LED driver is included). They do exist, but the are much more expensive. Or should I go with just the lamps where I could control the light output?

Most of the plants would be about 20-25 cm from the light in an area of 0.70 x 0.45 m (0.33 sq m). Except the brassia and cambria that would be much closer.

Not sure what would be the right wattage/lux. For example the Laputa claims to have at 20 cm 24000 lx (not sure what is the equivalent to white light) for an area of 0.8 sq m.

I would like the light to be flexible enough so that I can outgrow my setup, and maybe have a second one only with artificial light (e.g. Wardian case or terrarium).

Matias

[Nexogen]

Friend, I do not know how handy you are. I'd recommend 5x TCI Linear LED strip board. TCI driver is dimmable with dip switches.
5x TCI Linear LED strip board 23W 4000K 3540lm 154lm/W CRI80 Drivers included!

If you still want to buy ready built, you can do a mix of red and blue and
DC12V 0.5m 5630 Led bar rigid strip IP68 Waterproof LED Grow plant growing Red Blue 5:1,3:1 for Aquarium greenhouse Hydroponic-in Grow Lights from Lights & Lighting on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group
natural white.
LED Bar Lights 50CM 5730 rigid strip Kitchen led light bar 36LEDs LED DC 12V LED Hard LED Strip with U falt cover 5pcs 50cm-in LED Bar Lights from Lights & Lighting on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group
If you buy only the color red and blue LED, you'll have a problem:
Light is unbearable to the human eye.
(5pcs/lot) led grow light 660nm red and 455nm blue led lamp for plants, EU and American plug switch wire ,input voltage 85 265V-in LED Grow Lights from Lights & Lighting on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

[Subrosa]

I can speak from direct experience with your second option. I have 3 of the 45W panels lighting a setup based on a 48" x 18" aquarium. The first orchid I ever bloomed was a Brassavola Little Stars that was about 18" above the plant. I revamped the plants but here's a pic of it currently. I did add 2 9W led warm white floods to give a more natural appearance.

[murph7]

Originally Posted by Nexogen

If you buy only the color red and blue LED, you'll have a problem:
Light is unbearable to the human eye.

Thanks for the advice, I see it in the pictures, but if it is a little better... I will give it a try. I can always turn them off.

In any case, when I have orchids in flower, I move them to the living room to be appreciated.

---------- Post added at 09:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:52 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Subrosa

I can speak from direct experience with your second option. I have 3 of the 45W panels lighting a setup based on a 48" x 18" aquarium.

Do they run hot? Would it be better to buy the ones with fans? The back might have to touch the wooden shelf.

[Subrosa]

No, they're very low wattage and run cool.

[murph7]

Great for the info.