Orchid Grow Box

[eldone]

I have built an Orchid Grow box and would like some feedback from others as to how I can improve upon it. Presently I am using 4 tube flourescent light fixtures with cool white tubes. I put some small fans on the one end of the lower and upper sections to pull air into the box in an effort to keep the air moving inside. The fans turn off with the lights at night. The upper section gets too warm during the day so I have to keep the one door open. I made some metal pans that I have filled with gravel and water to help with humidity.

[Willc73]

Tiny Tiny pictures. Can you post the pictures larger please?

[mayres]

I posted a pic of something I have made that is in some ways similar and in other ways not similar at all in another thread. Lighting/Purchasing of Orchids A couple of thoughts come to mind. Why do you have it enclosed? Mine is all open and I have a good fan blowing air though the plants all day long and often at night as well. I also have trays with rocks to add water for local humidity - not sure how much this actually helps but I do it nonetheless. You might find daylight broad spectrum lights give you better results than cool bulbs. I have also added a grolux tube to my set of four on each level to see how much that might help. IMHO you want to have your plants as close as possible to your light fixtures - at least within 3-4 inches if possible, for maximum benefit. Just a few initial thoughts....mike

[atcrosby]

I believe the reasoning for enclosing is to increase humidity. Of course, he'll have to have good air circulation inside the box plus monitor it to insure nothing bad happens (fungus, etc.) happens in areas with poor air flow. You can purchase humidity trays with egg crate tops online. Quarter Acre Orchids (www.quarteracreorchids.com) is a good source.

The lights would be the other point. As Mike indicated, some growlights would be beneficial. I put a couple of oncidiums under a grow light tube and it's done wonders. I have new growth and my Twinkle now has two spikes in progress.

I am investigating LED grow lights right now but the information is counterintuitive. It indicates you need lights in the red and blue spectrum to get good plant growth. The broad spectrum lights are more for us to enjoy the plants. Growlights tend to focus on those ends of the spectrum enabling the plant to grow.

I like that enclosure and may have to build one myself.

[arleneg]

eldone,

I like the orchid grow box you have there. My husband and I have brainstormed and came up with a few, but nothing like yours. Your grow box reminds me of curio and book cabinets.

Living in a rather low humidity area, I'd rather have the box enclosed. Either way, the box design is cool. I may build one for myself.

Will you please post larger pictures?

[eldone]

Here are the pictures in larger format.

The reason I tried to enclose the box was that it was in the basement outside my woodshop and I wanted to keep the dust out of the box. However, that did not work and the plants kept dropping the blooms, so we moved the box upstairs into a spare bedroom. That has solved the bud drop problem. During the winter our house is dry so the doors serve to keep the humidity levels from the wet stones inside the grow box.

I will look for broad spectrum tubes. I would guess that those are a specialty type tube and not available in places like Home Depot, correct?

I was planning on remaking it someday to make one section with more space. However, that would put the lights up higher from the plant. Is it just better to let the spikes grow along the underside of the light instead of raising the lights?

[mayres]

Yes, you can find the bulbs at Home Depot type places - that happens to be where I have purchased most of mine. Here are a couple more facts to keep in mind. They have advertising on the sleeves that say things like "good for 6,7,8, etc years. I just checked mine with a light meter and the intensity has almost been reduced in half in a little over one year. New bulbs test out at 900-1000 foot candles AT THE SURFACE and my bulbs that have been burning for 14 months are down to 500. Now I know why we require all bulbs to be replaced at my place of work for attracting bugs (insect electrocuters utilize fluorescent type bulbs - every 6 MONTHS). To the human eye they look the same, but they are definately NOT. Here are some interesting facts that will show you why you want to get as close to the bulb as you can - at 2" from the bulb the foot candles drop to 700, 4"=500, 8"=320, 16"=200. There is a potential 10-15% margin of error with my light meter, but you get the idea. My goal is to have my plants as close as possible with bulbs no older than one year (6 months ideal) and then as they get spikes move them down through necessity - but ONLY at that time. From what I've read and studied, blue, red, far red and infra-red are the important parts of light to plants which is what is emphasized by the grow-light type bulbs. Blue is down near the purple end of the visible spectrum and the reds are all at the opposite end - so hopefully (?) a broad spectrum will pick up both ends. The green/yellow light in the middle is important for us - but not the plants. This is some of what I've learned thus far - hopefully it will help. Enjoy your plants! mike

[eldone]

WOW, I would have never thought a few inches would make that much difference. I will adjust my plants up closer as suggested and get some new broad spectrum tubes. Thanks for the information.

[atcrosby]

You might also want to look at the LED Grow lights available online. They are pricier but do not fade like flurorescents and don't consume as much energy as the HID lights. They burn cool and have a long lifespan.

[johnemartin]

I have tried both cool white & "Growlux" flourescent tubes. One bit of advice; don't let any part of the plant come into direct contact with the bulbs as they will burn that part of the plant.