Grow Lights for various Orchid types
 

I bought a clamp on the table, LED grow light for my Phals this past winter. The light says it puts out 80-150 umol/m2s when placed 12-24 inches away. Since all my Phals were on a table, about 12-16 inches away from the lamps, even if the ppfd output was a little off, it worked out and they are in bloom now with more vibrant coloured flowers than before.

Over the last few months I bought 2 Dendrobriums, 1 Oncidium and 2 Vandas and 1 Rhynchostylis so I had to change my set up. I put them on a shelving unit by a south-facing window and the previous fixture’s light does not reach the bottom shelf. The sunlight doesn't reach the top shelf at all, just the bottom two shelves. The goal is to add supplemental lighting for days when they don't get much light or for when the day length gets shorter.

I read some of the grow light related threads on different sites, watched several Youtube videos and now I'm really confused. I'd appreciate some help in making a choice. My budget is $50 CAD and from what I read, LEDs are the way to go, not the pink-purple lights. I'll be placing either the tubes or the panels below the 1st and 2nd shelves on more of the medium-high light orchids and placing the phals predominantly on the top shelf under the lamp lights as they seemed to do well with the lamp. I read that the light targets for orchids should be as follows:
• "65 umol/m2s PPFD – for low-light orchids (Phals, Paphs, Jewel Orchids)
• 131 umol/m2s PPFD – for moderate-light orchids (Oncid, Phrags, Epidens, Dends etc)
• 200-328 umol/m2s PPFD – for high-light orchids (Cattleya, Vandas)
**Converting feet to meters: 1m = 3.28ft"
[-From blogger: Here But Not]

Among these options, which one’s spectrum and ppfd would make for a good light for my orchids (esp the vandas)? LED tube lights? If so, which is better, the warmer 4000K or cooler 6000K? OR are grow light panels better? Or tube grow lights? Do orchids need infrared light too?

Option 1- LED 4000K OR 6000K Tube lights

Option 2 - LED Grow light Panel by YGROW or IndoorGreen

Thanks for your help!

There is a lot of information circulating in the area, I grow plants only with LED light (built by me) and I found that if I don't have enough 660nm, the plants (especially cattleya) don't produce as many flowers compared to the light that contains a lot of 660nm. I know, there are enough people who will fight me, but I've really noticed that for many years. If I were to buy the LED plant light, I would be more interested in the spectrum emitted than in Kelwin. I know, plants adapt to the spectrum of light, but that's what I found. I recommend IndoorGreens, see the spectrum emitted by light.

Nexogen is right about the red spectrum but that was back in the day of blue and red lighting - things have evolved a lot since and full spectrum beats any other spectrum.

The Ygrow will be better than the Indoorgreen one in my opinion as all leds are full spectrum, not just half and half supplemented with cheap red leds but for a hobby grower there will hardly be a noticebale difference, both are very good modern lights with some full spectrum to them.

You could argue the red bulbs will promote flowering more but overall light output would be reduced but that is just pure speculation as I have not compared the 2.

For a shelf I would recommend strip lights over grow panels as they distribute light in a shelf (ie long) manner whereas panels are designed for a square space so half would get wasted on shelves and the edges would not receive enough light.

Unfortunately the strip lights you have listed are not designed for orchids. They will work but they will not be built with the same quality LEDs, they will be designed for max illumination, you want some that are designed for max growth in plants and the quality of the LED makes a big difference there. 4000k will have more red than 6000k so the 4000k will promote flowering more.

I am sure someone from your neck of the woods will be able to recommend a good strip light for you

maybe you can get these Orchid Hobbyist

But how do you know what methods I use in the case of LED light. Here's the spectrum I use, it's an old method, I don't know, all I know is that the plants are happy.

Thanks! Would you happen to know if they need the infrared part of the spectrum too? Some of the lights don't have the infrared.

---------- Post added at 10:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:27 AM ----------

Thanks for the ideas.
Actually, I already messaged the Orchid Hobbyist on Facebook some time back and asked about pricing because the blogger Here But Not also recommends his lights. The shipping is what makes his lights super expensive. It's around $55 just for shipping to Toronto. So while the whole set up might not go beyond my budget, the shipping is pretty pricey.

---------- Post added at 10:36 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:33 AM ----------

And that's what's most important! As long as your plants are happy, you are happy. :D

I don't know if it needs to be infrared, I tried to get closer (somewhat) to the solar spectrum. LED lights are also generally made for mass production and must be a trade-off between costs. I tried to make my lights according to the space that must cover it, I did not take into account the costs. In fact, I grow plants for pleasure, I do not want material profit, my only profit is flowers.

Me too! I love the blooms! I want them to grow well but I don't want to spend too much on the lights.

Sorry to jump on this thread.... does anyone know PAR the orchid hobbyist LED strips can achieve? Wondering if they would be suitable for vandas?