A dumb artificial light question
 

This may be a silly question, but when using artificial lighting in terrariums and warden cases, is it still possible to burn the leaves of orchids as the sun would do if they were receiving more then the amount of light needed? I think I am going to have a long process ahead of me when I receive my orchidarium (hopefully someday) with were to place the plants.

it depends on what kind of light, and how close the plants are to the light.

for NO (normal output)fluorescent tubes, ive been able to actually let the leaves grow into the bulbs without any problems.

for CF (compact fluorescent) tubes and t5 as well as t5h0, burning can occur at distances as far away as a few inches.

Not a dumb question at all! Yes it is, theoretically possible, just not probable. It is possible to stack too many t5 florescents together over shade-loving orchids, but most people only use two-tube t12 florescents.

The bulbs that come with the orchidarium are: six 21", 4800 lumen, high intensity, bi-axial lamps.

Stick with those till you know know you need something else. I'm glad you got the 6-lamp option rather than 4-lamp.

Has anyone used LED lights, that they say will grow plants and orchids. I have a east facing window for my orchids but I think I may need a little more light for them to flower. any Info will be helpful.

Becca, it's not a silly question. I have burnt Cattleya leaves before with a 4 lamp normal output T12 before. They were just too close at the time.

Not a stupid question - I've just finished building a second orchidarium and used 8 T5 bulbs instead of the ordinary fluorescent bulbs I used in my first case and I've burned the leaves on several shade-loving pleurothallids even though I had them as far as 20-24 inches from the bulbs. I think I'm going to have to break down and get a light meter.