Indoor orchid growing

[Call_Me_Bob]

I have 6 4' t12s filled up now. I agree. Get the bigger lights. That way you won't need to ipgrade a soon.

You can call me Bob

[iiwii]

Another question i wanted to ask was about when the plants are spiking. When your plants are spiking under flouros should you move the light with the spike and buds or should you keep the light 6" from the leaf tips then guide the spikes around the light?
Thanks again everyone!

[Ray]

One of the advantages of going with more bulbs is that it increases the light flux sufficiently that you don't need to keep them 6" from the plants.

For example, I converted a 20-gallon aquarium into a terrarium for jewel orchids. I built a hood for 3 24-watt, 2-foot T5s, putting out a total of about 6480 lumens. Sitting on top of the tank, about 9" above the plants, was too much light, and I actually burned some of the leaves. No, it was not heat generated by the fixtures; I have a thermometer in the tank, and it never got about 75°F.

I built a new top, moving the bulbs to about 18" above the plants, and they seem far happier.

Take this with a large lump of salt, but I estimate that a 4-bulb, 2-foot fixture ought to be able to adequately light phals in an area about 4' x 3'-3.5', maybe 2' above the leaves.

[iiwii]

I just ran over to home depot just to check out what kind of lighting is available there. I found a six bulb four foot t8 fixture with reflectors. It said it will give 95% reflection. For the whole six bulb fixture would run about $100. Now if the hydrofarm fixture only has four bulbs but is a t5 and also $50 extra dollars which would be best? All other fixtures have no reflectors but some are t5. Is the reflector pretty essential to have if your gonna do the set up? Which seems the be the best set up? Thanks for all the help!

[plantguy]

Originally Posted by iiwii

I recently found this board after getting sucked into orchid growing and just had a couple questions about indoor lighting. I am considering buying a T5 light fixture probably only a two bulb 24". Now reading through posts i saw that you need different color spectrum for vegetative growth and then flowering. Would a T5 Hydrofarm structure cover all the necessary spectrum for a 6-8 orchid garden of mostly Phals with a couple Paphs. or would I need to maybe add another CFL? Also, so CF and temperature would be the most important factors in buying a lighting fixture not necessary the wattage provided. is this right?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Pete

Forgive me if this crosses into the realm of T.M.I.

I have found that my phalaenopsis & paphs grow fine without supplimental lighting. My Phals. are near (not in) an east window and the Paphs are on a south facing windowsill with a deciduos tree outside so they only get direct sun in the middle of winter. All are blooming.

I do have quite a few orchids that do need supplimental lighting though. I have found T5HO bulbs to currently be the most efficiet light sources on the market in regards to lumens per watt that won't create a heat problem. CFL's work great as well for tight space but are only 2/3's as energy eficient. Bloom & grow spectum bulbs are pretty easy to find on the internet.

Full spectrum bulbs with a high CRI are best for [U]displaying the orchids as they bring out the colors best for the human eye.

I did come across a pretty cool find just a few days ago. The coralife colormax T5HO bulb has one of the best color outputs I have seen to date for a fluorescent bulb. It hits the critical spectrums in both the blue and red wavelenghts. I have reviewed the spectral analysis of hundreds of bulbs recently and most fluorescents that claim to be for plant growth actually don't hit the deep reds well; as the "red" they produce is mostly nearer the orange part of the spectrum. The red spectrum on the colormax actually peaks around 650nm which is right in the middle of the peak absorbtion wavelenghts for chlorophyl A & B.

They are a little more expensive but I bought some immediatly and am trying them out now.

[plantguy]

Reflectors increase the "efficiency" of your lighting around 20% so over the long run it will allow you to get more bang for your electrical buck. Also t8 bulbs and t5ho bulbs are pretty close in tems of lumens per watt however t5ho fixtures are much more space efficient. A 4' t8 bulb uses 28 watts and produces about 2700 lumens. A t5ho bulb uses 54 watts and produces 5000 lumens. You would need half as many t5ho bulbs to produce the same amount of light as the t8's.

[RJSquirrel]

the t5s you find at Home depot are not HO unless they are marked T5HO.And as far as I have seen they are not HO fixtures.

T5 28W 46 inches 3,000-6,500 K
Light output initial 2,900 mean 2,726-2,750

T5HO 54w 46 inches 3,000-6,500 K
Light output i initial 5,000 mean 4,700-4,740

If you have regular T5s you can put HO ballast in them. I have done the cost involved and buying new fixtures works outs cheaper than refurbing old lights with new parts. The HO electronic ballasts are not cheap.

T5 is the new wave for now as we have decided here in our nice L.E.E.D awarded building(the only multi use sports arena so awarded.thank you,just means we dont have any coffee cups and we have to bring our own toliet paper to work with us) that L.E.D. lights arent there yet.

So if you just have T5's you arent getting what you think you are

how about a link to the lighting research center?
What T5 lamps are available? | T5 Fluorescent Systems | Lighting Answers | NLPIP

[Ray]

Reflectors add a lot, if they are good reflectors.

I posted a couple of graphs where I measured the light in this article:
Artifical Lighting Intensity

[iiwii]

So I ended up getting the Hydrofarm 4' 4 bulb t5 fixture. Now for Phals, Catts, and Paphs, how far would any of you recommend having the leaf tips of each type? I don't yet have a light meter so I don't want to burn any Phals under this setup.
Thanks for all the help everyone!
Pete

[iiwii]

I figured I would set the height appropriate for the phals and raise the other plants as necessary