| An interesting discussion. Brooke, I only grew under lights for about 3 years (and hope I never have to do it again) but in some ways, I found it preferable to growing in a greenhouse. I never had a cloudy day, could adjust the light cycle through out the year, could easily control the temperature and humidity etc. But, I had a dedicated area set up in the basement so I did NOT have to contend with trying to balance human comfort with plant comfort. The biggest problem was -- well let's just say that the light and power company has filed for chapter 11 since I left!!!
The comments made about fertilizer are quite interesting. JLu, unless the orchid is growing directly under a bird roosting place or a monkey bedroom, they had better have an additional source. Your sap story makes real sense. For us nontechnical types who just use tap water for most of our watering should make it a habit to check with the water company once in a while to check what we are giving our plants (I get an analysis from our water company each quarter). When I lived in central Illinois, every spring we would have "water alerts". The spring rains would flush lots of nitrates out of the soil (added as fertilizer for the corn & soy bean crops) and since the city water supply was derived from the local river, those nitrates, and God knows what else, wound up in the drinking water. High nitrate levels are dangerous for young children and some immature pets. The "alerts" would be announced on the radio and TV and parents could bring in a birth certificate to the grocery store and get free bottled water for children under three (the stores were then reimbursed by the city). So, it was amazing how much nitrogen you could give your plants by just watering them.  |