Is this enough light?
 

Hi all,

I've been reading this forum (and others) and I'm still confused about exactly how much light I need.

I'm growing low light plants, phal's and am getting my first paph tomorrow (so excited). I ordered two 85 watt CFL's that put out 4250 lumens each to light an area about 4' by 2'.

Will this be enough? Too much? Or just right?

I don't have a light meter so I can't measure the foot candles when I get the lights.

Thanks for any help!

I don't have any experience with CFL's. I would think with just 2 you'll be on the low end of needed light. Are you planning to use a reflector? That would help direct useable light back onto the plants.
Without a light meter if you place your hand a foot or so above the leaves and see an indistinct shadow you should be OK.
What kind of paph are you getting?

Bill

Bill,

Thanks. That is a good trick to judge the amount of light.

Yes, I have reflectors. After spending long hours searching the Internet to see what was available I decided to cannibalize a couple of my old photography studio lights that haven't been in use. They are just the right size. I know a lot of people use clamp lights but 10.5 inches isn't really that big for a reflector. I don't see why these aren't made larger.

I'm not sure what type paph. I'm driving a couple of hours to get to the only place in my state that sells them. I thought this would be safer than ordering one online this time of year. I just know they have a variety of Maudiae type hybrids. They also have a discount shelf where they put all the orchids that have finished flowering. They're $10 each. I'm thinking of getting an oncidium too. Kind of a surprise since you don't know what the flowers will look like.

A Maudie type paph should do ok with the phals. The oncidium type will certainly need more light than that.
Good luck!

Bill

ewhite, I agree with Bill, and I think that it is probably appropriate amount of light for Phals and low light paphs. For 4x2' area, I had success with 4-6x 32W T8 (similar to 2-3x 54W T5HO). CFL is generally less efficient than linear fluorescent light, but your setup should work. With LED, I seem to be able to go down to 80-100W for 4x2' area. Here, I'm talking about 100% artificial light, so if you can use some natural light, the requirement could be lower.

Since you have reflectors from studio lights, you probably know about photography. You can use your camera to measure foot-candle if you want:
Light Intensity Measurement