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[Leafmite]

Originally Posted by katrina

Or, just use HO T5s. It's far more attractive in a living space. Amazon has some good ones at decent prices. I just picked up another 4 lamp unit last week!

Expanding the grow space? I know the feeling.

T5HO lights are really great. I grow all kinds of stuff under them, not just orchids, including 'full-sun' plants. I do get fruit, berries and fragrant flowers during the winter (for some of the fruit, pollination with a toothpick is required). A nice starter T5HO lamp would be the two light, two foot sunblaze:

Amazon.com : Sun Blaze 960290 120-volt T5 High Output Fluorescent Lighting Fixture, 2-Feet, 2 Lamps : Plant Growing Light Fixtures : Patio, Lawn & Garden

I have three of these:
Amazon.com : Agrobrite FLT44 T5 Fluorescent Grow Light System, 4 Feet, 4 Tube : Plant Growing Light Fixtures : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Mine says 'Envirogro' but it looks similar. I bought them from Amazon.


I am trying a cheap clip-on two-bulb LED desk grow lamp for my Bulbophyllum tank. I just moved the Bulbophyllums from the spot near the T5HO shelves to a north-facing window and the lamp is clipped to the top of the window and hangs down for supplemental light. We shall see. It looks like this (not the same seller).

Amazon.com : 2017 New Dual Head Led Grow Light, Ppunson 10W Desk Clip Lamp with 360 Degree Flexible Gooseneck and Double on/off Switch for Indoor Plants Greenhouse Office (10w Dual head) : Patio, Lawn & Garden


I have also bought two clip on reflectors and two grow-light bulbs to try but I have not tried them yet. I figure if the cheap one doesn't work for the Bulbophyllum, I will use one of them. The other will be for growing some lettuce or fresh herbs for cooking (cheaper than an aerogarden).

Amazon.com : iTimo Full Spectrum Led Grow Light Bulb Lights For Indoor Plants Marijuana Plant Light Lamp For Hydroponic Aquatic And Greenhouse Planting(30W) : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Amazon.com: Woods 0151 18/2 SPT Clamp Lamp with 8.5 Inch Reflector, 150 Watt, 6 Foot Cord: Home Improvement

[estación seca]

Color temperature (K) is a measurement invented to describe how white light produced by electric lamps appears to the human eye. It gives no information at all about what wavelengths are in the light. Color temperature, measured in degrees Kelvin (K), is a useless measurement when deciding which lamps to use for growing plants.

One can obtain shades of white light, appearing the same to the human eye, and having the same K measurement, by using different combinations of phosphors, emitting different wavelengths. The white light emitted by different white LED lights might have different effects on the plants.

By an accident of phosphor choice, many inexpensive 6500K fluorescent and compact fluorescent lights emit light wavelengths that are good for growing plants.

Reading that an LED lamp emits white light with a color temperature of 6500K tells you nothing about the wavelengths emitted by this lamp. The lamp may be terrible at growing plants, depending on which wavelengths the lamp emits.

To evaluate whether an LED lamp is good for growing plants, it is necessary to find out which wavelengths constitute the light it emits, and how much of each it emits.

[katrina]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

Expanding the grow space? I know the feeling.

Yep...I said I wouldn't...but I did. Had no choice really. The orchids held a little orchid gun to my head and made me provide more space. It really was out of my hands and I am not to blame for breaking my word of no more expansions. Ok, well, that's my story...and I'm sticking to it.

As for the K and the 6500K, etc...I have been growing under 5000-6500K for years now and I have never had an issue w/blooming. My plants are outside during the warm months and inside for 8-8.5 months every year...no problems w/getting blooms. I am even blooming cacti/succulents and that speaks volumes.
Look for daylight or natural spectrum 5000-6500K and you will get blooms. Ray published a document several years ago that showed the light spectrum emitted by bulbs and the 5000+K emitted sufficient "blue" spectrum to bloom. Maybe he'll see this thread and he can share that doc again.

I used to use a mix of the blue and reds but I hated the yellow glow that the reds caused. Yes, to the human
eye, the reds emit a yellow tone. When I saw Ray's doc...the next fall I switched to only "blue" and have never had a problem w/blooming. If the yellow doesn't bother you then you can mix the "blue" and "red" (lower K and higher K OR referred to as "warm" and "cool")

Well, I take it back that I've never had a problem blooming anything...I have had trouble blooming Rlc glauca but I know people who grow outside year round and they have trouble w/this one. I switched this guy over to full sun last summer and again this summer...in conjunction w/the lights during the colder months and I am now finally getting blooms. For most orchids though...no trouble w/blooms. I'm sure there could be other orchids/plants that might not bloom under 5000-6500K but my guess would be that those require closer to full sun year round and that does not hold true for the majority of orchids.

I have some of the sun blaze units but I also have some units I got from FarmTek, and a number of different name brands from other places. The most recent additions are HydroPlanet, purchased on Amazon. My best deals obtained have been had on Amazon.

[Dollythehun]

Charles, there are numerous threads on lights, search for those and you will get up to speed.

Here's my unscientific bottom line: you're supplementing existing sunlight, so something is better than nothing. Your'e growing in your living space, so looks matter, and you want it to be easy to install and work around.

I chose my t5s due to looks. Then someone on the OB recommended the Sunblasters and they work well for my application. Things are growing and blooming that weren't. You are going to have to sift our advice and tailor it to your needs. Look back through some old posts or you'll be overwhelmed.

[Dollythehun]

Anyone tried Sunblaster LED strip lights?

[Nexogen]

T5 HO is good for growing orchids in the house (when I say good, I mean the cost of lamps and "good" growth of the plant). I also used induction light, after which I came to the conclusion that I have to do something with the spectrum. Orchids have a fantastic potential. LED light is a good light but has few deficiencies; or buy it with the dedicated sectum and then it is disruptive to the human eye or buy / build it as a customer device (I want to say a light with a good spectrum for both the plant and the human).
The big advantage of LED light is the low power consumption and you can have it with "a la carte" spectrum.
Let me give you an example: before I used the 240W T5HO, now I use 75W LEDs with more better blooming plants.

[Nexogen]

A good spectrum T5HO is this one but it costs more expensive than LEDs