Vandas in Glass Vases

[Ocelaris]

This has encouraged me to try the vase method, no vases yet, but it reminds me that Vandaceous species like to have their roots out and about, not in any sort of potting medium. The best grown vandas always seem to have their roots just floating down in the air... so although it seems totally opposite of what I would think to do, I'm giving it a shot.

As for lighting, I have a good amount of experience. If you're handy at ebay, you can find some metal halides in the 100-150 watt range that put out like 9000-12000 lumens, which should be more than enough for a 3-5 foot radius with a good reflector. If anyone is interested, I would be happy to elaborate on another thread. I am a moderator of a forum that specializes in a form of lighting...

I got a 100w Metal halide light for my 2x2' growing area for 25$ shipped (which was a record low price), but none the less, you can find cheap lighting on ebay in the industrial section... The problem with much greater than 200 watt HID (Metal halide, High Pressure Sodium etc...) lights is that they're just too bright in one place... smaller bulbs are easier to handle for our smaller scale setups.

Here is a picture of an Ikea light I made into a HID lamp for our house, but I'm actually using that in my growing area now and the plants seem to love it. Should be able to test how many foot candles I have in a week or so.

[smartie2000]

Originally Posted by Ocelaris

As for lighting, I have a good amount of experience. If you're handy at ebay, you can find some metal halides in the 100-150 watt range that put out like 9000-12000 lumens, which should be more than enough for a 3-5 foot radius with a good reflector. If anyone is interested, I would be happy to elaborate on another thread. I am a moderator of a forum that specializes in a form of lighting...

How far away do you hang the halide lights for the 3-5 foot radius? I want to get some new lighting, the fluroescent shop lights are driving me nuts! I had to move my growing area and I don't like it anymore.

[Ocelaris]

damn, I had a much better response typed up and then it logged me out and I lost it

Anyways, checking out the lighting requirements:

Light Requirements by Genus -

I have a 150w MH bulb, which puts out roughly 12000 lumens starting, which is about /~10.764 (divide by about 10.764) is foot candles, which comes out to 1114 foot candles... This number to me seems very low... The light is damn near blindingly bright even during the daytime... So I think when talking about florescents vs. a point source, you can lower your requirements because they are such a more potent force than the dispersed florescent lights...

my 150w is about 2 feet from the plants at MOST, and I feel it's a ton of light, but when my battery camera comes I will be a better judge.

3-5 feet radius at 3-5 feet would probably be fine with a 250w MH... they pretty much jump from 150 to 250.

Example here is a a 250w Ballast for 10$ + 18$ shipping... bulb will cost you ~30$, and reflector and socket will be another 30$, cords, and a box may be 20$

71A5570-001 Core and Coil Ballast - (eBay item 110157850984 end time Nov-07-07 08:31:35 PST)

So for 110$ you can get a 250w or 18,000 lumen bulb...

Now the trick is to find the pre made fixtures with the socket and reflector built in...

Ok, so this one is a premade setup... everything included, 400w for 110$ shipped...

400 Watt Metal Halide Aquarium Light w/ Choice of Bulb - (eBay item 170156411118 end time Oct-15-07 18:47:36 PDT)

If you have a choice, pick a higher color rendering bulb, and toss the cheapo 60 CRI bulb (Color Rendering Index) as they aren't very good for plant growing... but pretty much any non-frosted 80+ CRI bulb will grow nicely...