Hi all. I've been a lurker for quite some time, but since I did not have
anything to contribute, or to ask about, I just read your posts.

Now I do have a question: can orchids live and bloom in artificial light? If
yes, what would be the best source?

We are about to move, and the future house does not have a window with a
morning to noon sun. Right now I have two orchid plants, one rescue and the
other one a gift. The rescue is white phal, and the gift - I really have no
idea what it is, except that it has flattened bulbs from which it sprouts
narrowish leaves. This did not bloom yet, so I cannot describe the color of
the flower. I heard it was supposed to be yellow, possibly with orange/red
spots.

Anyway, the two orchids are in the window where they get morning to noon
sun, and they are very happy. After we move, I will have to place them by a
window, but - alas! - no window receives morning sun, and afternoon sun is
much too hot.

Greenhouse is out of a question (moneywise).

I am open to any ideas and suggestions...

Why don't you place the plants further in to the room away from the hot sun
on a tray with pebbles.They should O.K.They like bright indirect light,so
this should provide this.
P.S the other orchid sounds like oncidium?

--
Thanks Keith,England,UK.
"Maggie's Mom" wrote in message
...
Hi all. I've been a lurker for quite some time, but since I did not have
anything to contribute, or to ask about, I just read your posts.

Now I do have a question: can orchids live and bloom in artificial light?
If
yes, what would be the best source?

We are about to move, and the future house does not have a window with a
morning to noon sun. Right now I have two orchid plants, one rescue and
the
other one a gift. The rescue is white phal, and the gift - I really have
no
idea what it is, except that it has flattened bulbs from which it sprouts
narrowish leaves. This did not bloom yet, so I cannot describe the color
of
the flower. I heard it was supposed to be yellow, possibly with orange/red
spots.

Anyway, the two orchids are in the window where they get morning to noon
sun, and they are very happy. After we move, I will have to place them by
a
window, but - alas! - no window receives morning sun, and afternoon sun is
much too hot.

Greenhouse is out of a question (moneywise).

I am open to any ideas and suggestions...

If you do want to try artificial lights, if you have enough room to set up a
shelf with fluorescent lights above it, use both cool lights and warm
lights. However, fluorescent lights usually are sold in 4' lights, so they
take up quite a bit of space. For two orchids only, you could try an AgroSun
Dayspot 150 Watt incendescent light (that's what I am using, and I'm happy
with it, but I use it to supplement a northern window, and I don't know
whether it would be enough on it's own without any light from the window,
but it does take much less space than fluorescent lights do. Incendescent
lights generally are not an energy-efficient solution, and one does need
them in daylight spectrum, I think, for them to be any good to the plants.
Fluorescents are much more energy-efficient, and the cool-warm combo
provides enough of the light spectrum, but they take up so much space! There
are smaller fluorescent light bulbs for sale, but you would need to research
a bit, since 4-foot are the standard.

Joanna

"Maggie's Mom" wrote in message
...
Hi all. I've been a lurker for quite some time, but since I did not have
anything to contribute, or to ask about, I just read your posts.

Now I do have a question: can orchids live and bloom in artificial light?
If
yes, what would be the best source?

We are about to move, and the future house does not have a window with a
morning to noon sun. Right now I have two orchid plants, one rescue and
the
other one a gift. The rescue is white phal, and the gift - I really have
no
idea what it is, except that it has flattened bulbs from which it sprouts
narrowish leaves. This did not bloom yet, so I cannot describe the color
of
the flower. I heard it was supposed to be yellow, possibly with orange/red
spots.

Anyway, the two orchids are in the window where they get morning to noon
sun, and they are very happy. After we move, I will have to place them by
a
window, but - alas! - no window receives morning sun, and afternoon sun is
much too hot.

Greenhouse is out of a question (moneywise).

I am open to any ideas and suggestions...

"J Fortuna" wrote
could try an AgroSun
Dayspot 150 Watt incendescent light

So it is OK to use artificial light. Wonderful. I think I will do some
research on the fluorescents that are just a tad bigger than a regular light
bulb. I know that they come in different wattage, and different brightness -
do you think that one that gives off same brightness as incandescent 150
watts will be OK? It takes only 33 watts, and it is plenty bright.

On the other hand, I have already assembled enough material to build a
lighted shelf, in fact it will be a 3-shelf module with 4 foot fluorescents
mounted over every shelf. I just wasn't sure that orchids would tolerate
artificial lighting. I know African violets thrive in artificial light, all
they need is proper brightness.

Thank you all for your advice!

I think that African Violets need only the proper brightness, but I think
the orchids are a bit more picky and it's not just the brightness, but the
amount of the spectrum covered by the light that is important (thus, for
fluorescents one needs both the warm and the cool).

If you search Google Groups for "lighting rec.gardens.orchids" you will find
a post by Claude entitled "Question about lighting !" in January 2004 on
this group. One of the response to it explains the cool and warm lights and
the wattage needed. If you can't find the post, let me know and I will copy
a section from the reply here.

Best,
Joanna

"Maggie's Mom" wrote in message
...

"J Fortuna" wrote
could try an AgroSun
Dayspot 150 Watt incendescent light

So it is OK to use artificial light. Wonderful. I think I will do some
research on the fluorescents that are just a tad bigger than a regular
light
bulb. I know that they come in different wattage, and different
brightness -
do you think that one that gives off same brightness as incandescent 150
watts will be OK? It takes only 33 watts, and it is plenty bright.

On the other hand, I have already assembled enough material to build a
lighted shelf, in fact it will be a 3-shelf module with 4 foot
fluorescents
mounted over every shelf. I just wasn't sure that orchids would tolerate
artificial lighting. I know African violets thrive in artificial light,
all
they need is proper brightness.

Thank you all for your advice!

On second thought, now that the Google Groups URL has beta in it and the
interface has changed, I don't trust them as much as I used to, so here is a
copy of one of the replies to Claude's lighting question:

-----------------------------------------------------------
Jan 17 2004, 12:23 pm
Newsgroups: rec.gardens.orchids
From: tbell
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 12:23:48 -0800
Local: Sat, Jan 17 2004 12:23 pm
Subject: Question about lighting !

Claude -
I grow several Phals and a Paph about 12-18 inches below one cool and
one warm 40 watt fluorescent, the least expensive I could find. The
combination seems to work just fine.
Tom
Walnut Creek, CA, USA
--------------------------------------------------------

"J Fortuna" wrote in message
news:usgYd.89231$wc.88521@trnddc07...
I think that African Violets need only the proper brightness, but I think
the orchids are a bit more picky and it's not just the brightness, but the
amount of the spectrum covered by the light that is important (thus, for
fluorescents one needs both the warm and the cool).

If you search Google Groups for "lighting rec.gardens.orchids" you will
find
a post by Claude entitled "Question about lighting !" in January 2004 on
this group. One of the response to it explains the cool and warm lights
and
the wattage needed. If you can't find the post, let me know and I will
copy
a section from the reply here.

Best,
Joanna

"Maggie's Mom" wrote in message
...

"J Fortuna" wrote
could try an AgroSun
Dayspot 150 Watt incendescent light

So it is OK to use artificial light. Wonderful. I think I will do some
research on the fluorescents that are just a tad bigger than a regular
light
bulb. I know that they come in different wattage, and different
brightness -
do you think that one that gives off same brightness as incandescent 150
watts will be OK? It takes only 33 watts, and it is plenty bright.

On the other hand, I have already assembled enough material to build a
lighted shelf, in fact it will be a 3-shelf module with 4 foot
fluorescents
mounted over every shelf. I just wasn't sure that orchids would tolerate
artificial lighting. I know African violets thrive in artificial light,
all
they need is proper brightness.

Thank you all for your advice!