Newb from Connecticut

[amaliaforce]

Hi there!
I've just stumbled into the wonderful world of orchids! My mom had a couple when I was a kid - all Oncidiums, still going strong - and her father grew dozens when she was young. A few months ago, I decided that it was time to try my hand with orchids, too. I now have 1 Den, 2 Onc (dang it no sharry baby yet), and 7 phals (all of which are in bloom).
I have fairly good lighting, but I'm looking into artificial light sources, since I have a feeling my collection will continue to expand....

Any suggestions to guide me in the right direction?

[Sharyn]

Welcome to the forum. My phals. are in bloom too. They bring some cheer with all this miserable weather. I only use some supplemental lighting occassionally - not enough room. There are quite a few forum members using artifical lights. I'm sure you'll get some great advice. Good luck with your collection.

[mayres]

Fluorescents are the cheapest to setup (good for phals and paphs), but will not work real well for your oncidiums or dends - they want more light than fluorescents can provide. HID lighting is best for medium to high light plants - issues are cost and heat that is generated - it can all be overcome, but takes some planning. mike

[amaliaforce]

This may be a stupid question, but I see that incandescent bulbs are sometimes recommended for indoor plants... For low level light plants like my phals, would that be enough, or would they need fluorescent light?

Also, a technical question. I have an Ott-Lite, which is a full spectrum light. While it's meant for people, would that have the same basic effect? None at all?

Someone needs to make lighting plants easy.

[mayres]

Incandescent bulbs will work for a limited number of plants. One of the problems is that you get very poor output for the amount of energy used - the worst of the options available. My first winter with orchids I put 5-6 orchids underneath a 100W incandescent bulb and it did OK. Also lots of extra heat. Generally speaking plants want both ends of the light spectrum (blue and red) and people prefer the yellow/green in the middle. A full spectrum light should work if it is sufficiently strong (enough watts) - is this a tungsten type of fluorescent type fixture? Lighting plants easy? You will get the hang if it in no time! Enjoy mike

[Sharyn]

I once had an Ott-Light floor lamp made to supplement light for plants. It was expensive and did not do anything more than light up a plant sitting in the corner. Not like a grow light - acted more like an accent light. Try the flourescent lights. I've used inexpensive shop lights with one warm and one cool bulb in each lamp. Change the bulbs every 12-18 months. If you can afford more, listen to those on the forum with their advice. Keep the Ott-Light for reading and craftwork. Good luck.

[mayres]

I did a little internet surfing for ott lights and it looks like Sharyn is correct - not enough light power to do much good for plants. I also utilize inexpensive fluorescents, though I'm dreaming of a 400W HID to add to my arsenal one of these days. mike

[amaliaforce]

Thanks for all your help, guys!

Another stupid question.... Sharyn, you suggested getting one warm and one cool light... what does that mean? I understand that bulbs have different output, but is it a particular wattage that separates the two or something?

(Going to the New Hampshire show next weekend; I need to be ready if I bring anything home!)

[mayres]

Warm and cool have to do with the end of the spectrum that the light output comes from. Cool is the blue end. Warm is the red end. Full spectrum will have BOTH blue and red with the green/yellow in the middle as well. Blue is the most important for good plant growth. Red's tend to encourage the flowering. mike

[Sharyn]

I'm not currently using the shop lights for my orchids - ran out of room here. We used them for starting flower seeds. They're white colored 48" shop lights (with a cord & plug attached if you don't want to do any wiring), they're pretty cheap - about $10, and inexpensive florescent tubes. I don't know the technical stuff, but I think the cool white tubes are more like daylight and the warm tubes have a pinkish cast which may or may not provide some other spectrum. I don't remember the watts or output. I don't even remember why I used the warm tubes! There must have been a reason.

Usually the tubes are marked cool or warm. Home improvement and hardware stores all carry the bulbs for a few dollars. I used one of each type bulb in each of the shop lights. They worked fine for the seeds and cuttings from outdoor plants. I also tried some of the GE grow lights (cost about $15 apiece), but I couldn't adjust the height of these and they weren't as bright. With shop lights, you can attach chains to each end so you can adjust the height from your plants. The special grow-light tubes (I've tried them too), seem to work pretty well, but the cost is 3-4 times more. If you have more than one shop light, that can be pretty expensive.

I'm sure there are many here on the forum with experience in growing orchids under lights who can better explain. OK guys, help me out here!

I've included a link for lighting plants indoors.

http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/gt/intlight/intlight.htm