lighting for flasks - Orchid Board

flhiker · #1 12-06-2008, 11:36 AM

Hi all, well my first attempt at flasking did not go so well. I was able to grow many different colors of mold, which I have been doing for years in my refrigerator

. Any way I want to try again but the books I have do not cover lighting very well. What type of light is best and how long? My first attempt was natural lighting. Thanks for your help

ps Sorry Royal I ruined most of the seeds you sent

kavanaru · #2 12-06-2008, 11:54 AM

dave, the best lightning is T8 or T5 as for growing plants...you only need to be carefull with temperature, as the flasks can get quite hot and you kill everything, but the mold

I would suggest to first try the flasks without seeds (only the agar medium) under the lights for one or two weeks, to check for heating and mold contaminations...

gixrj18 · #3 12-06-2008, 12:15 PM

Yes, Dave, T5's are awesome for this. I setup in a closet (that I ran A/C to), so I have no temp. problems. But I have noticed that during the winter (when the A/C isn't running....in fact, some times the heat is) the temp. still stays okay, even with all these lights. Here's some pics that I posted in a thread, last weekhttp://www.orchidboard.com/community...t-do-i-do.html
Let me know if you need some more seeds, I have plenty....PM me if so, I'll see what I have. I'll send you some of your Den. seedlings, too.

gixrj18 · #4 12-06-2008, 12:24 PM

Oh Yeah, and they run about 16 hours on, 8 off.

flhiker · #5 12-06-2008, 04:34 PM

Thanks Ramon and Jasen. I will take you up on your offer Jasen, But I need to figure out a place to put them and get the lighting. Since I don't use A/C I will also figure out how to get cool air to them. So I have some work to do first. What is the range of tempature they should be stored in?

gixrj18 · #6 12-06-2008, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flhiker

Thanks Ramon and Jasen. I will take you up on your offer Jasen, But I need to figure out a place to put them and get the lighting. Since I don't use A/C I will also figure out how to get cool air to them. So I have some work to do first. What is the range of tempature they should be stored in?

Mine usually stay between 70-85. A small fan will work fine.

Royal · #7 12-06-2008, 06:34 PM

Temps: 5-10 degrees higher than adults. Be sure you get the day/night differential. Even seedlings like cooler nights.

Light: Not much is needed to germinate seeds, but the T5's or T8's (or even T12's) will do once they look like actual plants.

Seed: No worries, there's more where that came from. Plus, Mother Nature is working on some more.