Tell me about your lights!

[reptilegrrl]

I am planning to invest in more supplemental lighting for my orchids and would love to hear from you about how much light you are growing in and what is thriving. Can you tell me what temperature and strength of light you are using, how they are set up (distance, etc) and what length of time they are on?

I get the impression that the AOS recommendations re:light levels are incomplete. I've read Ray's piece on light levels here: Light Level Recommendations - First Rays LLC

And I've spent several evenings over the last week immersing myself in PPFD and DLI etc. But I'm still ending up confused, and most commercial LED lights do not list their PPFD. So lumens and color temp are all I have to go on most of the time.

I have one 800 lumen supplemental light right now and the orchids under it are thriving with a 14-hour day (I did just increase their day to 15 hours, a few days ago.)

So I would just like to get a general survey from those using lights: what level of light are you using and how are your orchids doing? Basically, I want to know what is working for you! My plan is to install 4000k LED strip lights on a few of the shelves in my living room. I don't want to over-light my orchids, but I want them to have as much light as they can healthily handle. I want them to thrive, not just survive.

Thank you!

[Dollythehun]

I just installed Sunblaster Strip LEDs and I love them. I'm not an engineer and/or technical person. I can tell you I understand doing so much research that you get more confused than educated (the guys here do it to me all the time). Here's the link. I run them 12 hrs a day.

.SunBlaster LED Strip Lighting - SunBlaster Lighting

[Ray]

Nobody can give you a solid answer, and even giving an estimate is impossible without knowing:

• What types of plants?
• What is the ambient light level?
• How large of an area (or areas) will you be lighting?
• How far above the plants can you / do you want to have the lights?

Currently having an "800 lumen lamp as a supplement" really tells us nothing that we can use for estimated comparison.

[reptilegrrl]

No one can tell me what their lights are like because they don't live in my house and with my light? I don't think that is true at all.

I think you are usually helpful and I guess you're trying to be helpful here, but that's not what your comment communicates.

Originally Posted by Ray

Nobody can give you a solid answer, and even giving an estimate is impossible without knowing:

• What types of plants?
• What is the ambient light level?
• How large of an area (or areas) will you be lighting?
• How far above the plants can you / do you want to have the lights?

Currently having an "800 lumen lamp as a supplement" really tells us nothing that we can use for estimated comparison.

Good thing I didn't ask for an "estimated comparison".



---------- Post added at 12:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:37 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

I just installed Sunblaster Strip LEDs and I love them. I'm not an engineer and/or technical person. I can tell you I understand doing so much research that you get more confused than educated (the guys here do it to me all the time). Here's the link. I run them 12 hrs a day.

.SunBlaster LED Strip Lighting - SunBlaster Lighting

Can you share a pic of your setup? Thank you!

[fooferdoggie]

here is what we use. they are half blue and half red. when I changed them from all blue I noticed blooming started. not sure ifs t is enough for the ocidiums that are on the bench. they are growing but we will see about blooms.

[Dollythehun]

Originally Posted by reptilegrrl

No one can tell me what their lights are like because they don't live in my house and with my light? I don't think that is true at all.

I think you are usually helpful and I guess you're trying to be helpful here, but that's not what your comment communicates.



Good thing I didn't ask for an "estimated comparison".



---------- Post added at 12:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:37 PM ----------



Can you share a pic of your setup? Thank you!

Yes. I'm watering right now, as soon as everybody is back "home" I'll take one. It matters to me how this looks because it's the entrance into my home. I have a couple clip ons too and I'm tyrying to streamline that system.

[reptilegrrl]

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

Yes. I'm watering right now, as soon as everybody is back "home" I'll take one. It matters to me how this looks because it's the entrance into my home. I have a couple clip ons too and I'm tyrying to streamline that system.

I know just what you mean, my orchids are in my living room so it matters to me how it looks! That's one reason I hate the pinky-purple lights that are geared toward growing.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by reptilegrrl

No one can tell me what their lights are like because they don't live in my house and with my light? I don't think that is true at all.

I think you are usually helpful and I guess you're trying to be helpful here, but that's not what your comment communicates.



Good thing I didn't ask for an "estimated comparison".

What I was trying to communicate is that you need to share more info before anyone can give you a decent, educated guess at what you might need. Photos of others' setups are of little benefit without being able to make a comparison, an estimate, if you will, of the complete situation. So yes, because they don't live in your house with your lighting - nor do they have your plants - they can't offer anything particularly helpful, and if they did, it is still of little value to you, because you don't know their situation.

Your response to my query, like your attitude in a previous thread, when queried by your choice of flag symbol (and no, this is not a "Go USA" comment), doesn't do a great deal to make me want to help, and I'd bet that I'm not alone.

[reptilegrrl]

I did not ask anyone for a "decent, educated guess" at what I might need. I asked people to tell me about *their* light setups, which would help me in determining, myself, what might work for me. (I think you are entirely correct that without living with my environment, no one can give me any kind of recommendation, which is why I did not ask for one. It is very curious to me that you keep pretending that I did.)

You proceeded, and continue to proceed, as though I asked for recommendations, estimates, and educated guesses WRT what would work for me, when I did not. That is why your comment was rude and condescending, and your follow-up here is no different.

I get the impression that you've been posting here for so long that maybe you don't bother to read people's posts anymore, you just assume you know what they are asking and comment accordingly. But as my desire not to display a flag on my profile is irrelevant and I was not remotely rude about it, your decision to bring it here, indicates to me that you know you were wrong and are grasping at straws in order to attack me instead of just admitting your original response was irrelevant and rude.

You are very knowledgeable about orchids and I've learned from your web pages and posts here, and I appreciate that very much.

Originally Posted by Ray

What I was trying to communicate is that you need to share more info before anyone can give you a decent, educated guess at what you might need. Photos of others' setups are of little benefit without being able to make a comparison, an estimate, if you will, of the complete situation. So yes, because they don't live in your house with your lighting - nor do they have your plants - they can't offer anything particularly helpful, and if they did, it is still of little value to you, because you don't know their situation.

Your response to my query, like your attitude in a previous thread, when queried by your choice of flag symbol (and no, this is not a "Go USA" comment), doesn't do a great deal to make me want to help, and I'd bet that I'm not alone.

---------- Post added at 03:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:06 PM ----------

Thanks! I have been eyeing aquarium LED panels but thought they might not have enough red spectrum to grow orchids. The aquarium leds just seem so convenient in terms of mounting or suspending them (and being premade.) I'm especially impressed that the Taotronics ones are still effective 4 feet above your plants! Do you happen to know what kind of FC or PPFD your plants are receiving?

Originally Posted by Subrosa

All of my lighting is repurposed aquarium lighting designed for either reef or fresh water planted aquaria. This year it's largely supplemental, as my new place has much better light than the old. However lots of stuff bloomed last season solely under the lights, including high light Cymbidium and Vanda. I'm running 2 x 120W Taotronics led panels suspended about 4' above a 2' x 4' shelf in front of south facing windows that I grow the high light and larger plants under. My other setup is a 3' wire bakers rack with Zetlight Lancia Series led striplights, 1 strip on the low light shelf for Phals, 2 on the shelf for Cattleya. The really nice thing about the strips is how they mount to the rack. The light has 2 extendable bars, one at either end to allow it to adjust to fit different sized aquaria. By removing the bars, positioning the light and re-inserting the bars the lights mount securely to the rack with no extra mounts or tools needed.

---------- Post added at 03:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:18 PM ----------

Thanks for sharing! I agree with Ray too, that's why instead of asking someone to recommend something for my environment, I am just asking to know about your setups

The lighting in my living room has changed a LOT over the year via tree removals and weather and fence removal and etc, and I have no plants growing in the area where my future shelf is going to be. So there's really no data to offer, which is why it makes more sense (to me) to just find out what's working well for other people. There are just so many lights out there on the market, and all of them have their marketing claims, so knowing what is working best for home growers helps me to make an informed decision.

Originally Posted by jkofferdahl

Any supplemental light system can be of benefit, but I have to agree with Ray (something I've found myself doing a frightful amount of lately) that different situations requite differing set-ups, and so it helps to know something about your own conditions. I personally am a fan of T5 lights. In an area with little ambient lighting these do a great job. I have Cattleya-type plants virtually up to the bulbs, and Phals about 12 to 14 inches below. However, next to a west-facing window I have the plants a bit farther from the lights. This works in my case, but may not in yours. It's important to take ambient light into account in setting up the light fixtures, and also, with T5s, important FOR ME that I've hung them on adjustable hangings so I can move the light closer to or farther from the plants.

[camille1585]

Reptilgrrl, your latest post, among others, is not the sort of thing we like to see on OB. When you post on a public forum, it often happens to recieve off topic responses or people putting in well intentioned but unsollicited suggestions. Accept that this happens and sift though the posts for the information you need rather than reacting inappropriately. Usually people are asking for suggestions and personal experiences, so I think it was natural to assume it was the case here, and orchid growers like to try to help others. In the end you'll make the decision on the lights yourself, but experience and reccomendations from seasoned growers is not something to be simply disregarded very rudely.

I see nothing wrong with what Ray posted. He is a long time and highly knowledgeable member of OB, for which I have a huge amount of respect, and he has been a very positive addition to the OB community over the years. Since most people come here asking for suggestions, asking for more information on your light situation was fair and has never drawn such a negative reaction in past threads.

As a general comment, OB is usually a very friendly place, so let's try to keep rude language out of this thread, and treat other people wih respect and stay polite. If that's not possible then I will lock this thread.