Lights for growing cattleyas
 

Apologies if this question has been asked before. I'm new here and new to growing orchids under lights. I've spent a good amount of time going through the forum and other sites trying to find the answers and feel a little overwhelmed. So thought maybe I should ask a more direct question. I have a lot of experience growing endemic Vandas and Dendrobiums but this was when I lived in Sri Lanka (very strong light and high humidity)

I have a Cattleya that I would like to bloom (would probably be adding more). Currently the leaves are dark green which suggests to me the plant needs more light. It does look happy. Plenty of roots and two new pseudobulbs. My apartment gets very little light. Direct sunlight is limited from 10-11.30am and then its shade. I have some Phals that seem to like it however and they have bloomed well. I would like to setup some artificial lights and need some recommendations.

I would like to stick with LED's (no CFL's please). Going through the forum it looks like some of you like the ikea VÄXER lights? Are these good for Catts? Any links or recommendations will be very welcome.

Apologies for repeating myself. Sunblaster LEDs are great!

Where do you live? For Catts there may be a question of how many hours of lights you have, as well as intensity. Retail product availability varies by what part of the world.

Currently living in NYC

---------- Post added at 09:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:58 PM ----------

Any chance you can provide some links to actual products? I'm a complete novice. Google brings up a ton of different products for sunblaster LEDs

Page not found - SunBlaster Lighting sale.products/grow-lighting/led-strip-lights/

I got mine from Harris Seeds, who happen have them on sale. Harris Seeds: Vegetable Seeds, Flower Seeds, Plants & Growing Supplies

My Catts bloom under them.

Your first link doesn't work.

Is this the product you mean?
Sunblaster 4' LED Light Strip 6400K






– Harris Seeds

Well, ES, sorry about that. I guess it didn't translate. Harris has all sizes, more than Amazon.

Here is a link to the lights I bought:

Technical Data - SunBlaster Lighting

I bought mine through amazon.

A lot of people in northern climates have insufficient daylight hours in winter to bloom some orchids. This is one reason people use artificial lighting: not only to increase intensity, but also day length. Most orchids are from the tropics, so something approximating a 12-hour day is often used. It doesn't matter whether you add the extra light to the beginning or end of the natural day. When I lived in St Louis and brought all my succulents in for the winter, I had the lights on at night and off during the day, so I would be able to spend time with my plants after arriving home.

That is interesting. I would have thought something like circadian rhythm would be important? unless of course the plants were in a darkened room. In anycase I intend to only use the lights in daylight hours

---------- Post added at 02:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:26 PM ----------

Seems like theirs a lot of love for the sunblasters. Any other brands? or should I just get the sunblasters? I measured my setup and I think a 2ft strip light or a couple of bulbs in fixtures would be perfect