Light help in vivarium!

[Ray]

It is 144 actual watts, and I had no option on the angle - 60°

[getyaya]

Thank you both .

I was talking about adding the far-red because in that project I mentioned earlier says this and I quote:

"Why is all this important?
Because there is a molecule in plants used to differentiate between light and shade of direct sun light . It's called phytochrome and is responsible to differentiate how far red by red hits the plant. How it works is summarized in the following paragraph:

The far red or 730nm is the color which increases compared to 660nm when shading , ie , when the ratio of red / far- red decreases from 1,2-1,1 to 0.5-0.2 values ​​the plant knows no shade. The far red is what makes the plant knows to compete for light shade. If this mechanism is not activated , the plant does not grow at competitive levels and survival may be compromised . For practical purposes this is that most aquarium plants do not bloom (and also bloom is a phytochrome -mediated response * ) . So to make a display of LED lighting with the right features would take many LEDs Far Red ( 730nm ) . So , in this case , is the future of research for the LEDs which will determine whether or not the improvement of these diodes .
As a personal contribution consider a charge of far-red light comes in an aquarium as well but little reduced though that relationship and not create a shadow effect of intense , self activated phytochrome that is what it is. As always I see positive effects."

I have not much knowledge to do some research, simply seek the best combination for my plants to grow properly.

But stick with that combination that you both give to whether to buy it or make it myself.
When I get it, because it´s going calmly, i show it so you can give me your opinion and using it to help someone.

Regards and thanks again!

[naoki]

Yes, you are describing the etiolation response mediated by phytochromes. However, the person who mentioned this may have some misunderstanding. Do you really think that etiolated plants perform better (higher fitness) than normal plants? They have to spend extra energy for stems instead of leaves, which is counterproductive.

Also the etiolation process is somewhat species dependent. In the grassland, etiolation may be beneficial because they could outcompete the grass. However, under the forest canopy, there is no hope that herbaceous plants can outcompete trees! So they shouldn't waste their energy for long stems. Most orchids are shade plants, so I would say that FR:R mediated etiolation is unlikely to happen (I know my Phalaenopsis pulcherrima etiolates when I put it in lower light level, though).

I'm NOT saying that FR is not required for orchids. Phytochromes mediates many responses, so FR "could" be used in a useful way to manipulate orchids, but I haven't seen a promising/convincing evidence (same for UV).

I'm looking forward to hearing how your project will go. With DIY route, did you consider chip-on-board (COB) emitters? It might be more cost effective for white based grow light. Here is some info which I saw recently: https://www.circuitsathome.com/diy-2...ht-a-build-log
Cree CXA is better, but I'm thinking of playing with cheap COB from ebay (around $10-15 for 30W emitter + driver), and attaching them to CPU heatsinks from old computers.