effect of lenght of lighting on phals

[ladyslipper]

Hello all, this is a really basic question but I would hate myself for not asking. I have finally gotten my ro system and lighting in place for my 'chids. My growstand is in my living room as as someone pointed out to me, the lights i have (2 full spectrum flourensent (sp) tubes and 2 58 watt T5 tubes all 48inch long) leaves my living room about as bright as the sun up close. What I have done is to hang a dark cloth at the front leaving both sides open. (the back is covered with a plastic material to catch any spraying I do)

I have also set the timer to start at 4:00am and off at 7:00pm (in the summer). If I start the lights so early, does that have any negative impact on the plant resting? I am going to shorten the plants day to about 10hours in October. Right now I am growing mostly phals with one or two paphs.

thanks for any opinion

[Ross]

The actual time the lights come on has NO effect on the plants. What DOES affect them is the day length. If the only source of light is your flourescents, then don't worry about when they come on. You should consider varying the "day" length based on what they might experience in nature.

[ladyslipper]

Originally Posted by rsfrid

The actual time the lights come on has NO effect on the plants. What DOES affect them is the day length. If the only source of light is your flourescents, then don't worry about when they come on. You should consider varying the "day" length based on what they might experience in nature.

Hi Ross thanks for the info. Just to clarify, in the spring, summer & fall, my grow are does get at times fairly intense light. I actually have the plants placed in accordance to the ones doing better with a little more light and so on (although its super bright now on the stand anyway). I had thought that I might actually be maximizing their day lenght by starting there day so early then the natural day can supplement the light, after the sun passes over, the only sunlight source comes from the lights on the stand. Do you think I should vary the plant day more than winter/summer type of day? I copied this from a post earlier where the person had this routine Nov-Jan 16 hrs/day
Feb-June 18 hrs/day
July-Aug 16 hrs/day
Sept-Oct 12 hrs/day
I cannot remember who posted it, but is this okay or too much for phals?
any opinions, of course are greatly appreciated by anyone who cares to share!

thanks mary

[Ross]

Sorry I missed this yesterday.

I run my lights in my south-facing bay window every day, sunshine or not. To me, it evens out the light intensity during the day as well as front to back.

I have not paid particulat attention to day length as I have many varied species and hybrids besides the Phals. I sort of watch the leaves and make sure there is no burning going on, but I probably push the light intensity more than most would. My plants may get 1500-2000 foot candles at times, but less than 500 when the sun's not out.