Grow Lights

[Revo]

I was wondering if anyone that dont get a lot of sun for there orchids use grow lights. Also if there are any tips on which to get and if it is worth it etc...

Thanks

[mayres]

I'm not going to suggest that this is ideal, but I have gone through one winter with growing my plants under fluorescent lights and it seems to work pretty well. I put all but my phals outside for the summer, but will soon be bringing everything back in to put back under lights. Putting them on a timer helps in standardizing on/off times. I'd say for us folks who do not have the income for a greenhouse and would like to slightly expand our growing area and/or number of plants - YES, definately worth it. I made an inexpensive three tier stand and supplied each level with two inexpensive fixtures from Lowes or Home Depot. Did you have other specific questions I might answer?

[Revo]

Thanks mayres,
So it looks like its only good to have them stay under the lights during winter? Also can u mix it up? Meaning can I let it get sun from a window and then when the sun stops coming into that window can I put the light on it? How many hours should I keep the light on the plants?

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

A mixture of indirect sun and fluorescent light is very good as this gives the plant a better spectrum mix. The total photo period should track the seasonal pattern. If you are only using the lights during winter, an extra hour wouldn't hurt. If you are using them all year long, you may be able to run them a couple of hours longer than the current sun cycle, but you do have to change the length of the photo period every 2 or 3 months. Cynthia

[desertgal]

Mayres.....what type of lights did you use? I get very confused trying to figure them all out.

Hi all, I'm new to the forum

Regarding lights, i use an EnviroLite 125w, 10000 FC, which works well for my orchids at 1.5 feet away (mostly phal.) some keep blooming from Dec to Sep! I think they like it more than natural sun light, which is not always present!

[mayres]

I started out using full spectrum tubes - purchased at Home Depot - they seem to work well. I have since added more lights and have now also added growlux tubes and cool whites - no particular reason - without doing a scientific test I have not proved anything one way or other - so far everything I have used seems to work. Have done a lot of reading and I know that our plants like the blue end of the spectrum (which cool white provides - and these are the cheapest bulbs) and they also like the red end for blooming (which either full spectrum or growlux bulbs provide).
One thing I have definately determined, you cannot get your plants too close (except do not touch the tubes or it will burn for some reason). They will also not provide enough light to bloom medium or high light need plants - only the low light need groups like phals and paphs and similar. mike

[kmarch]

Hello everyone: new member here so I hope you don't mind my jumping right in. I grew many (many = 100+) Paphs, Phrags, and Coelogyne under 2 flourescent bulbs quite successfully for years. I did not use special broad spectrum or "gro" lights, I simply used one "cool" (blue) flourescent tube and one "warm" (yellow/red) tube in a 2-tube fixture. The tubes were about 1 foot form the plants. I used an ordinary light timer (like you get for when you go on vacation) to regulate the length of the artifical day, about 16 hours in the summer, about 14 in the winter. I had quite good success with this system and bloomed quite a few plants. Happy Growing!

[grumpysan]

I've had good results growing most of my orchids under compact flurorescent aquarium plant lights, such as those available from Aquarium Hobbyist Supply (sorry, I can't post URLs yet, try google). They are more expensive than regular "shop-light" tubes that many people use, but they produce a better spectrum for photosynthesis.
The only problem I've run into is to forget that many Paphs and Phrags need a few months with longer dark nights in order to induce flowering. It's easy to just put the lights on a timer and forget that. Also, the tubes are expensive and only last about a year.

[matthewjohn]

I too grow under lights in a spare bedroom mostly phals and paphs but some catts in the winter till they go outside. My setup includes 2-36" double flourescent lights I recycled from an old fish tank. I split the bulbs 2 full spectrum bulbs Ultra Sun Super daylight by ZooMed and 2 Nutrigrow bulbs by Coralife. All were bought at a local petstore and cost about $10 each. All the plants lok healthy and bloom without a problem although the catts would probably be happier with more light.

[pikevi]

I use two sets of two aquarium plant lights(broad spectrum) , 40 watts each, with each set plugged into timers on separate outlet. Since the room has a a window facing N-NE, one set of lights come on only around 10am when the sun's rays no longer get in. The other one, further away from the window come on at 6 am- 7pm.

The fluorescent tube is about $5US and the fixture is about $25US. The 'balck light' is very expensive about $40 US each. It may also be a bit more harmful to our skin , especially if there are small children in the house.

I hope this is of some help.