T5 vs full spectrum flouescent lights
 

Hello, would someone be able to confirm if the lighr from T5 lights have the same or better of the spectrum orchids need to bloom & grow as the full spectrum flouescent lights?

I hate to come off as being a little "challenged" in getting things straight but there you go...

regards, m

Hi M :)
I think the full spectrum bulbs are a little pricey, and to be honest, I don't think will really give you that much of an advantage. Others here have gotten stuff to grow and bloom pretty decently under T5s (I use mixed tubes, cool and warm) and I've gotten some things to bloom too.

Hi Calvin, do you know if T5 tubes come in warm & cool tubes?

I'm not Calvin, but yes, they come in warm and cool light :) I have both...

ladyslipper, you can get T5 with full spectra.
"Warm light" tubes have approx. 3000K
"Cool light" tubes 4000K
But you can get "day light" tubes with 6500K that in my opinion is even better. They give a very good white light that present the flower colors very well.

I use this myself OSRAM (edit Osram does not allow me to link to this product, see below)

I use a mixture of 6500K and 3500K T5 lights to try and obtain a balance of 5000K. I recently found a 5400K T5 light that I am thinking of trying instead of mixing the 6500K and 3500K. I have Cattleya, Oncidiums, Dendrobiums, and Paph's bloom for me using the mixed lights. Hope this helps!

Magnus, the link you provided doesn't seem to be working when I click on it. But I use the same brand of bulbs Osram Sylvania.

Thanks guys, I am going to the hydropinc store where I get my lights from and will make sure I keep this inf. in mind.

Becca
The Osram homepage does not allow me to link to a particular product :((

To solve this go to OSRAM and make a search on :

Q 54W/965 HO FHS1
or the product nr: 4050300823959

Then you find the tube I use.

Not much to add - lots of great info here :) I use a mix of T5s like Becca (6500K cool, and 3000K warm). My supplier only had these two colors so I went with them. I alternate one warm, one cool, one warm, one cool. I'd be interested to see if 5000K work better (I think full spectrum is considered 5500K), but I have managed to get some dendrobiums to bloom under the mixed lights so it should be okay. Hope that helps!

PS - if you find a cheap source of these in Canada that does mail-order, I'd love to know. I get them from a nearby hydroponics store for around 11 bucks a tube which is the cheapest I've seen north of the border, but I know they sell for even cheaper down in the states.

I've paid as much as $20 US for 24" tubes of impecable manufacture (german tubes). My thoughts is that you get what you pay for. The cheap ones I started with were much less light than the HO tubes I've been using of late. You want light? You gotta pay for it (My 2 cents).