newbie lighting question

[Sarah_Racheal]

Hello Me again!
Right so after being inundated with phals, finding flies in my bark mix and dropping a plant pot on my foot I have another question
When you guys are talking about indoor lighting are you talking about special light bulbs or normal energy savers? I'm very confused as I hadn't heard about lighting specific to plants before I started reading all the newbie threads (oh yes all 50 odd pages, information overload here!)I'm planning on moving all of my guys and gal's into the spare room. It has a north/north east facing window though so no direct light but bright morning light for about 4-5 hours then quite shady for the rest of the day, in the summer and just shady in the winter. Do I need to change my plans or update the lighting and if so what do you recommend thats really cheep lol

Sarah

[Ray]

Go with T5 fluorescent fixtures. Your get more bang for the buck, and the plants will love the light level improvement.

[Sarah_Racheal]

T5 - those are strip lights yes?
I've had a look at the posts that go over lighting but it's all going right over my head at the moment. As far as I understand my phals are low light plants but the light coming into my flat isn't bright enough, they do badly in direct sun light but artificial direct light they are good with?
Thank you for taking the time out to help me understand this and help my phals

Sarah

[katrina]

Yes, direct light from a lighting fixture is good. The difference being that you'd want to watch the distance from the light. Too close can burn a plant due to the heat...too far can mean not enough light.

T5's are great...but they can be pricey. If you're going to stick w/low light phals...you could get away w/basic shop lights using a mix of cool and warm bulbs. Even medium light plants can suffice w/regular shop lights provided the wattage is high enough and you have enough bulbs.

I use a mix of T5 and regular shop lights in my grow space.

The added advantage of the T5 fixtures is that most of them are more attractive than your basic shop light fixture.

Hope that helps!

Oh, yes, the T5's can be strips or ballast (hanging) fixtures. Just depends on how many bulbs you get.

[Sarah_Racheal]

Thanks for the advice Katrina

I googled T5 lights and discovered they come in red and blue, is this the warm and cold lighting you were referring to?

I am planning to stick to low light plants so when you were talking about basic shop lights did you mean the once you buy in the super market? sorry if that sounds daft but I really am that clueless about lighting for plants, up until a few days ago I thought they would all be ok with the light from the windows!

If they are ok with "normal" light bulbs is it a case of working out the best wattage and then putting lamps on a timer? I really don't think I can go to the expense of the full strip light things

Thank you all again for taking the time out to answer!

Sarah

[mayres]

How many plants are you talking about lighting?
If just a few you can get away with CFL (compact fluorescents) - those type that look like coils - the bigger the wattage the better. If you are going with this you will need a clamp lamp fixture to direct the majority of the light AT your plant(s).
If you are trying to stay as inexpensive as possible - at least in the states - and you have more than 4-5 low light needs plants - I'd go with the two tube fluorescent shop lights noted by Katrina. Here you could set something up like that for about $10-12 US. Also as Katrina noted - I'd purchase either cool white bulbs, daylight equivalent (more red included) or a combination of the two if buying one at a time (here they often come in packs of two).
These types of lighting options will require the light to be fairly close to your plants for maximum effectiveness.

[Sarah_Racheal]

Hi Mayres
At the moment i have *cough* an expanding collection *cough* 12 phals and well.... put it this way I found ebay!
I was planning on getting one of those backless bookcases from Ikea, the selves are roughly 70" by 40" with 4 shelves, to display them on, not that I'm planning on filling it yet!
With what you have said I should be able to attach the clamp part to the "legs" of the book case.
I am trying to reach a happy point between keeping the cost low and my orchids happy.

Sarah

[Sarah_Racheal]

Oh I forgot to ask, is there an equation to use while working out wattage vrs space so I get the right amount for my plants?

Thanks again
Sarah

[mayres]

If you are going to purchase CFL lights for clamp fixtures, the cheapest in the states that would work best are 100 watt equivalents - 23-27 watt bulbs. Keep in mind a good four foot tube for a shop light is about 30-35 watts, so three of these lights will do approximately what a two bulb shop light will do. I have purchased a 200 watt CFL - but then you have issues with much more heat to deal with and the bulb being so big it extends beyond the shield of your clamp lamp (probably). If you are going to light up a dozen phals with two clamp lamps I would move/rotate them regularly so that all plants get the benefit of being close some days - the closer the better for all of them. Light intensity is reduced exponentially with distance - by a factor known as the inverse square law. Double the distance to a light source the observed intensity is decreased to (1/2)2 = 1/4 of its original value. Hope this helps.....

[katrina]

Originally Posted by Sarah_Racheal

I googled T5 lights and discovered they come in red and blue, is this the warm and cold lighting you were referring to?

Sort of. With the T5's...at least the High Output bulbs I buy... the blues are for growth and the reds are for flowering. It's a similar thing w/the regular fluorescent bulbs...the tube lights...the cool and warms together simply give you a better overall mix of the different light spectrum needs of the plants. I hope that made sense. I know how it works in my head but I don't think I explain it very well.

Originally Posted by Sarah_Racheal

I am planning to stick to low light plants so when you were talking about basic shop lights did you mean the once you buy in the super market? sorry if that sounds daft but I really am that clueless about lighting for plants, up until a few days ago I thought they would all be ok with the light from the windows!

You're not daft...you're learning and we've all been there.
The shop lights are those hanging ballast type lights you see in garages/shops/etc. You can usually find them in home improvement/hardware/DIY type stores.


EXCELLENT info Mike!

[Sarah_Racheal]

Thank you for the info guys
The plan tonight once I'm home form work is to find a good online retailer to order some from, does anyone have any recommendations for any that will ship to the UK, also I take it timers are a good investment at this point? I can realistically spend £40-50 right now as my mum has donated her bookcase to the cause
I am thinking once I have the basics down I can always order some more lights once funds allow, as the quick look I had this morning suggests I should be able to get 2 or 3 lights with in my budget.
As for the warm and cool lighting is it possible to get full spectrum bulbs or are they not so good for the plants/cost more?

Thanks again, and I will post thank you pics once this is all done

[katrina]

You can get the "full spectrum" lights made for growing BUT they are more expensive than the regular bulbs.

For your phals...a good wattage of regular fluoros would suffice. That and running them longer...14-16hrs per day...should give you sufficient light for those low light orchids.

Should you move into high light plants...then you might consider the higher output bulbs.

I would also stay away from...if possible...buying outside your country. The shipping charges could get quite high when shipping internationally. I'm sure you'll be able to find something "local".

I don't mess w/timers. It would make life easier I'm sure but I'm around most of the time so I turn them on when I get up...and off at the appointed time. If I can't be home when they should go off...I just go w/the flow and turn them off sooner...or a bit later. If you're around the majority of the times that you'd be turning on and off...save the money for something else. At least that's my philosophy.

Happy shopping!!

[mayres]

Unlike Kat, us old people need timers or we FORGET. I find them quite valuable and are fairly inexpensive. I also run my lights about 16 hours per day - pretty much year round.

[dooleycrew]

Will light from a well lit kitchen work for lights? I have 6 ressed lights and 4 bulb lights in my kitchen (small kitchen!!) I like to see what I am cooking LOL

Just wondering instead of having to buy any special setups...

[mayres]

Regular room lighting will NOT work (sorry) for adding useful light to your orchids. Depending upon what lights we're talking about needing your plants to be as close as a few inches to maybe two feet from typical home use (T5 fluorescent) fixtures.
It would not be unusual for areas that our eyes seem to consider adequate lighting to be in the neighborhood of 20-50 footcandles in intensity. Low light orchids generally prefer something closer to 700-1000 foodcandles.

[cowgirl]

Hi Sarah

I also grow mainly Phals in England, I only use sunlight - NO artificial light at all. All my Phals bloomed this year. In fact one that started blooming in January is still going and no signs of any blooms dying. I live down in London and keep my Phals in a east/south east window when in bloom and in the conservatory when not in bloom (but not in direct light). Don't feel that you have to get extra lights, our sunlight will be enough. Spend the extra money on more orchids instead!!

Caroline

[Sarah_Racheal]

Hi Caroline
Thanks for the heads up
because I have an upstairs flat I really only have 2 east facing windows, only one is free to use and the rest are north facing, hard to describe - turns out the back half of my flat is on a slant lol
I am getting in a total flap about lighting for these guys can you tell!

[Sarah_Racheal]

Hi again
I haven't forgotten about my lighting in the midst of my orchid buying frenzy
Given that most of my orchids are in the bathroom, due to the natural light or lack of it anywhere else in the flat, I'm having to have a rethink (not loving electric in the bathroom lol) I have a large alcove next to my unused chimney breast in the sitting room and I'm thinking of putting shelving into it for my 'chids - this would mean that the lighting I need to buy would have to work on a lamp fixture to be easy on the eye as I spend a lot of time in there.
Would something like CFL Maxibright Enviro Lamps work in this type of fixture? Do you have any recommendations for bulbs that will work with this set up?
Also how do you balance the red and blue light if using lamps rather than the over hanging fixture?
Thank you again for taking the time to help a newbie