grow tent lighting help
 

Hello everyone!

I recently moved, and the house has horrendous window arrangements. There is only one west facing window available for my orchids, and it just isn't working out. So I have decided on setting up a grow tent for them in the basement. I however, have never grown orchids under led lights before, and I am a bit lost. I am either considering getting a 4x2 or 4x4 tent (4x2 seems more reasonable and better utilization of lighting space, but the 4x4 would allow for quite a bit more options floor plan wise.) I have a spread of species, some smaller vandas (Ascocenda, coerulea, neofalcata), a few catts, various phalaenopsis, brassavola and their common complex hybrids, a handful of oncidiums. Basically what I'm just not sure of is what sort of wattage light I should be looking for? It would be great if it was one light, but two smaller main lights in the top would be fine, and later I could always add a shelf with another light in the lower part of the enclosure, or even stick lower power strip lights vertically in the front corners for additional lighting for lower light species on the bottom of the enclosure. I don't have an unlimited budget, and this will probably be a build as I go situation, but if any of you could give me some pointers it would be awesome! Thank you so much for any help you can give!

You may not need a tent. What is the ambient humidity there? Temperatures day/night?

I live in Colorado now and the ambient humidity ranges from 5-25% incredibly low compared to North Carolina where I was before. Ambient temp in the house is low 70s, but the basement sits around 65-60. I basically only have the option of putting them downstairs. The only window I can use up stairs also has limited daytime light of a couple hours in the afternoon noon due to nearby houses, and supplemental lighting in that area is a no go (it’s the dining room area). The tent would allow me to increase humidity and temp far easier than anything else I can think of (where it would have to go is unfinished and a large storage room.)

In your situation, a tent sounds like a good idea, it it doesn’t necessarily have to be a “grow tent” per se.

After selling my greenhouse in preparation for moving, I bout a bakers rack shelving unit from my local Home Depot, arranged plant trays on the lowest and middle shelves (they, and the top one were the only ones I used), attached LED lights under the top and middle ones, then covered it all with a plant stand humidity tent like this one:

https://growerssupplycompany.com/wp-...ages/TENTG.jpg

No matter what you get, it is unlikely a single lamp will work due to intensity and distance considerations.

Hey Ray!
The rack system was a consideration as well! Quite a few of my plants are on cork mounts (I would like to grow more of them this way as I prefer the look/ I seem to have better luck growing this way). So part of that consideration for a ten was being able to use some poultry wire on the back and sides to hang the mounts there. Which is also something I could rig up in a rack system as well I suppose.

https://a.co/d/52aWGJ6


I have seen lights similar to these recommended else where. The par values are a little high at full power but dimmed and with distance they seem like they might be ok?

I have terrible light in my house too, especially in winter. I supplement window light with led light strips year round. I also have a clear tent over standard Lowes wire shelving. When I set it up, I left a shelf out so that I would have a double high space. I mounted netting over the back of this space to hang mounted plants. There is also an automatic misting system for them. I use 47” light strips by Botanical LEDs, 2 per shelf, zip tied to the bottom of the shelves.

Like Dalachin, I prefer to use a number of strips, rather than one, large panel, as it offers the most flexibility.

botanicalleds.com has the best “bang for the buck“ selection around.

Is the basement also around 5-25% relative humidity?

It might be a little more consistent down there but it’s pretty much the same.

I started out with a 2x3x5 grow tent and quickly upgraded to a 5x5x6.5 model walk in style similar to this: tent

For lighting I went with a Spider Farmer 100 watt model on a timer. I use a Vicks brand steam humidifier and a small room heater, both on controllers. If you have the available floor space, this might be a better option for you since your collection will inevitably grow. If you want more details just ask.