I'd like to add that you can buy a motorized chain driven track that moves
the light back and forth over 8 feet or so and can really expand your
growing area plus the plants get light from different angles... I had a
1000 watt fixture on a track several years back as the primary (only
actually) light and it did quite well. But now days, I'm using fluorescents
and happy with them too. I built a shelf system so I can get 3 levels of
plants in the same footprint (only so far have 2 shelves built out) which u
couldn't do w/ the HID lights as they'd need more vert space.
Also, I tried the wonderlight that Charles suggested in the other reply and
found that the bulbs don't last very long and they don't just get dimmer,
the refuse to start. Wasn't impressed - for the $$ fluorescents IMHO are
the way to go.
"Rob Halgren" wrote in message
...
wrote:
I'd like to add growing lights to my orchid room to encourage Phals and
Mini Cats to bloom. I have about 30 plants in 4" to 5" pots. (The
dendrobiums seem to do fine without it.)
I'm looking at a catalogue from Charlie's Greenhouse, and I'm confused
about what to buy. I'm not sure whether I need fluorescent lights with
two adjacent tubes or four adjacent tubes--or if four are better than
two. They also have HID lights, but they come in all sorts of
intensities. Which is best for indoors for a small area? For about
$500, can I buy lights that will make a difference in my orchids'
flowering?
Thanks for any input that you can provide.
Oh, you can make quite a difference for 500 bucks. But you could
get what you want for half that, or even, with some compromises, 20
dollars. I do occasionally buy things from Charlies, but in this case
you might want to consider visiting your local hydroponics store. They
will have more lights than you can shake a stick at and can give you
some good advice. Or look on the internet for such a vendor, there are
plenty.
If you want to do fluorescent lights, you can do better at the home
center (Home Despot, Lowes, etc.). You can get two, two tube fixtures
(shop-lights) for less than 20 dollars. That will do you just fine,
hang them next to each other to illuminate a 2x4' area. That is 80W of
power, or about 10W/sq. ft. You will have to hang the lights pretty
close to the plants in order to get any benefit. That way you save 480
dollars for more plants. Or you can spend a few more dollars and get a
four tube fixture (40-50 bucks if you don't mind doing a little wiring).
You probably should replace the tubes every 6 months or so. I have
used the cheap cool white bulbs with good success, although the warm
white bulbs might be more pleasant to look at. You can buy expensive
'plant lights' but for supplemental lighting (or even primary lighting,
in my experience) you are wasting your money. Replacement bulbs - 4 x
$2.50 every six months. Main problem is disposing of the old tubes, but
you can recycle some of them into other fixtures around the house. Or
give them to friends...
My personal preference is metal halide (MH) lights in various
wattages. For supplemental lighting (in other words, you have natural
light but want to add to it), a 250W light will probably illuminate a
5x5' area very well (still about 10W/sq ft). And you can hang it higher
than fluorescents, so the spikes can develop and you can see the plants.
For primary lighting, you might want to go with a 400W fixture for the
same or slightly smaller area. You can get these fixtures in the
180-250 dollar (US) range. Maybe less, maybe a bit more (it has been a
while since I've bought one). I've had good luck with both the
Sunlight Supply and Hydrofarm brands, but there are several others I
haven't tried. If it is an option, be sure to get the tempered glass
cover (safety glass). This protects you from flying glass should the
bulb explode (never seen it happen...), and keeps water off the bulb
(which would probably result in boom boom). It is well worth the 20
bucks or whatever they ask for it. Replacement bulbs run about 45
dollars, and should last for at least 18 months.
A good dealer will have a warranty on both the fixture and the
bulb. I've only had to exercise my warranty twice on half a dozen
lights (once on a ballast and once on a bulb), but having a local dealer
makes that a lot easier. I have pictures of my old growing area on my
web site (see .sig). Still haven't gotten any pictures of my
ultra-deluxe new growing area up. Holy cow, I just checked and those
pictures are from my old, old growing area (6 years, three homes, and
two states away). I really need to update those pictures...
--
Rob's Rules: http://www.msu.edu/~halgren
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a. See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to purchase
more orchids, obtain more credit