One more attempt at indoor setting for Phal.

[ogus]

O.k. my ever growing orchid family.

I ran out of space in my little veranda for more orchids, so I decided to give another
try at indoor keeping of my phal. collection.

4 ft long light fixture with 2 - 40 watt florescent light bulbs from GE. Bulbs called
plant and aquarium. I believe they are for plant growth. I am thinking about changing
one of the two with Sun light mimic bulb.

Solved the humidity problem with wet towel on the floor. I managed to keep the
humidity at about 45% with about 75F temperature.

will this be little too dim for my phals?

[BillC]

Ogus, I suggest you read the following link on this forum to assist in making an indoor lighting system. ' Growing Orchids Under Lights - Discussion ', click on the search button on the menu bar and type in the link.

Bill

[ogus]

geeze.. I am going crazy with this.. o.k. phals need 1000 to 1500 cadle light.
1 candle light is equal to 10.76 lux.

My phals are spread around on a surface that's roughly 60cm x 120cm. giving me
the total area is about 0.72 square meter. GE P/A 40W light bulbs gives about 1900
lumen each.. so 2 x 1950 = 3900.. 3900 / 0.72 square meter = 5417 lux so only 530
candle light.. I need 2 more of 40 w light bulbs to create required 1000 candle light
luminence for my phals.. hm.. more money to spend I guess..

[elitebettas]

Hi Ogus,
Where did you purchase those unique planters?

[ogus]

I got them from the nursery I get my plants from.. She said she bought a container full of those pots from Thailand..

I won't worry too much about my light I guess.. I used my camera light meter.. at 1/60 ISO 100.. it gave me f stop of about 10.. that's roughly about 1300 fc..
and during day time I get some light through window that would supplement the light so I guess I will just let the light be on for about 16 hours a day

[tom499]

ave you not got a window to sit them by? sunlight is so much better for plants

[cupcake]

Where do you live Huney? I grow mine on a windowsill, Judi

[cupcake]

Where do you live Huney? I grow mine on a windowsill, it seems like alot of faff! Judi

[mayres]

I grow most of my phals under similar lights currently - the closer you can get the leaves to the bulbs the better - when there are no spikes - literally as close as you can get. My tests with a light meter show you will only get 1000 footcandles in the middle of the bulb, when they are new, at the surface. Drop down a few inches and you are down to 700 footcandles.