Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
lighting question
it's time to make room for some more orchids at my house, and i have a
couple of questions about indoor lighting... we're going to make a new plant stand, and i was just wondering what i should get for lighting. what is a biaxial fluorescent light? should i bother? i see they are used in wardian cases/orchidariums and aquariums. are they some sort of high intensity fluorescent? i'll be supplementing the natural light coming in the room (unfortunately i don't have a light meter) so i don't want anything too crazy, but i do want to make my medium light orchids happy. i grow them in a room with a large south facing window (there is a large tree out front which shades half of the window in summer), and there are plans for some small windows to be put in the east side at some point in the future. anyways, my little friends live on the west wall under a fluorescent light (my husband says it's a 20 watt aquarium grow light? i didn't get to see the box). they are all doing very well, but since i'm a bit new to this i am still waiting to see if i will have luck blooming anything. all new growths seem to be getting enough light, they are light green, upright and firm, and the phals have a slight red blush along the edges of the leaves. i have various types, phals, an oncidium, a miltonia (or miltoniopsis...is there a way to physically tell the difference between them? i think their temp requirements are different?, but i digress...), a miltassia, a neofinetia, a paph, a zygo, a wilsonara, dendrobium, and soon a sarcochilus, and miltassia (lol yes the bug bit me hard, i'm also experimenting to see what likes me and what doesn't). sorry my post was a bit longer than i though it would be. --mo-- |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
I'm going to have to respond in generalities, as it's been years since I
grew much under lights, but light intensity is an important factor in blooming, so, short of burning, more is better. A single 20W aquarium tube does very little, as its output is probably only around 1000 lumens, barely sufficient to grow phals, let alone bloom them, and well below the needed intensity for most of the other plants you mentioned. The larger the bulb output, and the more you can provide, the better. A lot of folks recommend grow-light bulbs, but many find that 50/50 (in terms of wattage) cool white/warm white is good, while I prefer the sunlight-types - those with the "Chroma 50" phosphor (it's printed on the bulb). If you have a camera with build-in light meter, you can use it to measure the light intensities. Follow the instructions at: http://www.firstrays.com/measurelight.htm -- Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info! .. "auntymo" wrote in message news:LUhed.8624$Pl.576@pd7tw1no... it's time to make room for some more orchids at my house, and i have a couple of questions about indoor lighting... we're going to make a new plant stand, and i was just wondering what i should get for lighting. what is a biaxial fluorescent light? should i bother? i see they are used in wardian cases/orchidariums and aquariums. are they some sort of high intensity fluorescent? i'll be supplementing the natural light coming in the room (unfortunately i don't have a light meter) so i don't want anything too crazy, but i do want to make my medium light orchids happy. i grow them in a room with a large south facing window (there is a large tree out front which shades half of the window in summer), and there are plans for some small windows to be put in the east side at some point in the future. anyways, my little friends live on the west wall under a fluorescent light (my husband says it's a 20 watt aquarium grow light? i didn't get to see the box). they are all doing very well, but since i'm a bit new to this i am still waiting to see if i will have luck blooming anything. all new growths seem to be getting enough light, they are light green, upright and firm, and the phals have a slight red blush along the edges of the leaves. i have various types, phals, an oncidium, a miltonia (or miltoniopsis...is there a way to physically tell the difference between them? i think their temp requirements are different?, but i digress...), a miltassia, a neofinetia, a paph, a zygo, a wilsonara, dendrobium, and soon a sarcochilus, and miltassia (lol yes the bug bit me hard, i'm also experimenting to see what likes me and what doesn't). sorry my post was a bit longer than i though it would be. --mo-- |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
question about starting seeds nad lighting... | Gardening | |||
Lighting Question -length and interrupted lighting | Freshwater Aquaria Plants | |||
Noob question....lighting and plants.. | Freshwater Aquaria Plants | |||
quick question needing quick answer: what lighting? | Freshwater Aquaria Plants | |||
quick question needing quick answer: what lighting? | Freshwater Aquaria Plants |