mrcn
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Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2015 11:02 am

120 Orchids need lighting system

disclaimer:
  • 1. I am not endorsing any products (apologies in advance is there is some rule against posting products), I am sincerely looking to light and house a boat load of orchids and have 0 actual experience with these types of products. I've done some research but any of your insight will be greatly appreciated.
    2. this doesn't totally seem offtopic, the forum description includes grow lights
The orphaned Orchids
Image

The Facts
1. We have 120 orchids to keep heated and lit.
2. They rest on 2 steel shelving units in an unheated sunroom. Shelving is 2.5' deep by 5' long.
3. the sunroom warms up well in the sunlight, but on cloudy days and at night it gets quite cold. I have some thermometers and extra-long shower curtains arriving this week.
4. We live in a Zone 5/6 climate - which means lowest lows at about -10f outside, unsure about the temp in the sunroom during these lows.
5. The room gets 7 hours of southern exposure

The Plan (so far)
1. Heating: I think that wrapping the shelving in light diffusing plastic around back, sides, and tops, and using shower curtains in front (clear for aesthetics) will help trap heat from a heating pad, or an oil heater, plus sunlight and whatever heat is emitted from bulbs. This can be adjusted with ventilation if too hot.
2. Lighting: I think that installing fluorescent light bulbs on the underside of the shelves will give the plants the additional hours of sunlight they need.

Questions pertaining to points 1 + 2 above
1. Heating: I am not sure how people tend to heat plants. I think this will suffice at the moment.
2. Lighting: The biggest questions: (basically, if you understand these numbers and how to determine these things, you'll save me research time. If you don't have time to explain, please show me what I can read)
  • 2.a) does the 2.5 foot depth of the shelves require 1 row or 2 rows of fluorescent bulbs to cover the full depth of the shelf?
    2.b) do the Orchid (want to stay general here, since I have several types) light requirements themselves require 2 lights (that is: 1 full spectrum, 1 "warmer" light)?
    2.c) what lumen/foot-candle intensity do these plants generally require? or basically, which of the products below (if any) would suffice? Do you have recommendations?

I've been looking at

T5 High Output Warm White-
https://www.bulbs.com/product/F54T5-830-HO
https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/89005/SUN-901480.html

T5 High Output Daylight White -
https://www.bulbs.com/product/F54T5-865-HO-ALTO?RefId=49
https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/89018/SUN-901485.html

Light + Fixture
https://www.htgsupply.com/Product-GrowB ... e-of-Bulbs
https://www.htgsupply.com/Product-HTG-S ... T5-Fixture

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

I can't decide where to start and how much of what I do will be relevant to what you have.

I think first you need to separate these orchids into groups by species. Some of them might be kinds that will be mostly dormant in Winter months. Dormant orchids won't need as much light and may require less warmth. They might be able to stay on lower shelves where it will be cooler.

I only have phalaenopsis and hybrids and they all bud and bloom from fall through winter into spring. They need high light while budding, then can be placed in somewhat more diffuse light and cooler temp while blooming. Once finished, I can put them in less light and lower temp to rest.

I have different supplemental light and temperature set ups depending on rooms and location around the house, and move them around accordingly.

If you are keeping them all here, once you have them sorted out by requirements, you'll have better idea of the set up you need. Ones that are not blooming/just leaves won't need extra height, but if some of these are going to bloom, you will need shelves with more height for the blooming flower stalks.

...

Would you consider -- is there room for -- the shelves to be in front of the windows across the room? If you do that and hang mylar emergency blanket on the room side of the shelves, they would get even amounts of light. As it is, the plants on the window ends of the shelves will get the most amount of light, and I would want to constantly move them like musical chairs, which is not easy with 2.5 ft depth shelves of plants.


But simply to answer your question, 2.5 ft = 30 in.? If these were T8 tubes WITHOUT window to provide the extra light, I would want 6 tube/bulbs per shelf. My three plants deep Winter Wonderland set up uses 4 tube 48 ft shop light with three 6500K daylight and one tube (I can't remember cool white I think -- don't feel like going in the garage to find the case and the number... ETA: 4100K). I put my blooming orchids here. There is room for another two tube light fixture between the 4-tube fixture and the window, but unless it's a gloomy day, the lower winter sun shining through the SE exposure window is sufficient in addition to the 4-tube fixture for the plants closest to the window, even though the supplemental lights are not directly over them.

Subject: 2015-2016 Winter Indoor (Tomatoes, etc.) Garden
applestar wrote:Re-organized Winter Wonderland today:

Image

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Subject: T5 Lighting for plants
applestar wrote:Here's a couple of pics of the Mylar film emergency blanket:
Image

I think it's actually the same material sold for covering windows to deflect glare from the sun - it's reflective and shiny but you can see through it ...like sunglasses. Here's how it looks from the other side:
Image

imafan26
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Posts: 13961
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

I agree with Apple. Orchids are the largest plant family in the world with over 25,000 species and still finding new ones, and over 110,000 hybrids. They are native to every continent except Antarctica and thrive from sea level to 5,000 ft. From dry areas to bogs. If you pick the right orchids they survive. 7 hours of bright indirect light is good. A rule of thumb is that the leaves should be medium green and have some firmness to them. They should not be soft. If the leaves are red and very thick or yellowish on a dendrobium they are in more than ideal light. They get used to it and they bloom better but they will not have the ideal leaf color. Too low a light and they won't bloom well.

I cannot tell exactly what you have. I did not see dendrobiums or oncidiums. I do see a lot of phalaenopsis and catleyas.
The phalaenopsis do not need a lot of light they do fine in 70% shade. The cats like around 50%. shade. You can tell if you have enough light with a light meter. You can use a camera light meter or you can get a combination meter from the garden shop or online. There are just light meters, but I find multifunction meters more useful. You can also measure light using the hand shadow test.

https://www.amazon.com/Luster-Leaf-1830- ... B001A4ACNU

It is useful for anyone who has house plants especially. I do use it outside since I keep my orchids under shade cloth and things like the paphs will only thrive in one 2 ft part of my bench where conditions are just right, anywhere else, they are goners. My light levels vary from 5000-8000 lumens. 8,000 being almost full sun with some shade from hedges in the afternoon. I use 47% shade cloth which I double up for the phals and paphs and shading reduces the light to about 1500-4,000 lumens. It would reduce it more but my shade cloth cannot be set any higher . Ideally shade cloth should be at least 5 ft over the top of the plants to deliver the % shade, anything lower lets more light in. Hence, the doubled shade cloth. This is still high light but orchids can adapt to higher light levels. I have some cats that have been adapted to full sun. Their leaves are red and very thick and stiff but they bloom better. Culturally, I would not win any cultural merit awards. Good thing at the shows, the flowers count the most.

Joining an orchid club would be a good idea. It will be a way to talk to other growers and hobbyist in their area and you can compare notes and ideas on how to grow better orchids. You can expand your orchid collection and get good quality plants at a better price than the market. Most market orchids are not show quality. The better stuff is kept for breeding, growers sell the rest. Really good ones are very pricey even to the hobbyist.
American Orchid society website has a lot of useful information and culture sheets as well as some cultural advice for advanced growers. I have a couple of orchid books I like: Simon and Schuster's Guide to Orchids. It is a good pocket reference especially on safari's so I can check out the cultural requirements before I buy an orchid. Havanera was slug bait and I cannot keep most of the odont's going because I am in a cool area but not cold enough for them.

Ortho's All about orchids was pretty good for a counter book, it has a chart for measuring light and some good information on basic orchid care.

I would be more concerned with temperature. The day temperature in the 60-80 is good, night temps at 50-65 is ideal for most orchids.

https://www.aos.org/Default.aspx?id=222
https://www.aos.org/images/img_content/E ... nopsis.pdf
https://www.aos.org/images/img_content/E ... ttleya.pdf
https://www.amazon.com/Luster-Leaf-1830- ... B001A4ACNU

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rainbowgardener
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Location: TN/GA 7b

You have gotten excellent answers. I don't grow orchids and don't have much to add.

For years I had this indoor seed starting operation:

Image

It's a counter top with two layers of shelves over it. The first shelf supports lights for the counter under it and plants on it. The second shelf supports lights for the first one.

The shelves/counter were (I moved since then!) 8' long and 2 feet deep. So I put 20" long trays crossways on them. I used four fluorescent tubes (two shop light fixtures with two bulbs each) running the length of the shelves, to cover the 20" tray. That worked, but barely. Stuff on the outer edges would be leaning in and I had to keep rotating things.

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Flourescent lighting works fine on orchids and most people who do keep orchids in doors keep them on a shelf with daylight bulbs. about 5-8 inches above the plants. the lights are usually on anywhere from 8-14 hours a day for catleyas, dendrobiums and oncidiums. For paphs and phalaenopsis they don't need that much light as long as it is good quality light.

mrcn
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Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2015 11:02 am

I appreciate the feedback from everyone.

In hindsight, the options appear rather obvious, are relatively limited in terms of money. The light of choice is 4, 4' high output T5 fixtures with bulbs. I have 3 right now, but will get more. When all is said and done, I'll have 3 shelving units of orchids, each with 3 or 4 shelves a piece.

https://www.amazon.com/4lamps-DL844s-Flu ... 5+ho+4feet

Now that lighting is mostly out of the way, I'm wondering about keeping the humidity levels up and keeping them well watered.

A little Eye Candy
Image
Image

imafan26
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Posts: 13961
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

If the room is not air conditioned and unless you live in a very dry climate, grouping the orchids together or putting them on humidity trays will provide enough. Misting is fine too. Most orchids would rather be dry than wet. White and green roots are good. If the roots are green, you don't need to water yet. Water thoroughly and white roots should turn green or darker if they are darker roots (sometimes phals have darker roots), immediately when you water. Roots should not be brown, black or soft. Keep the water out of the phals crown. Fungicide monthly and fertilize during the growing season. I use nutracote slow release and Michigan Formula 13-2-13 is popular among growers here. Otherwise Peters or MG for acid loving plants works fine. Use water soluble only when it is actively growing. Some people switch to bloom food after the growth matures. Do not alternate them weekly or the plants will get confused and try to bloom off a keiki (been there, done that). Orchids are growing when you see green tips on the roots. When the velamin covers the tip, then the orchid is dormant. Repot after the flowers bloom about every two years. Do not over pot. You can use the same pot or one pot larger. You only want to leave enough room for two years growth. By the time the new growth starts hanging over the pot, it is time to pot up. You will need to pot up sooner if the roots or media start rotting to save the plant.

Your orhids look really good. I need to take better care of my orchids, I haven't fertilized in awhile and I have to clear the dead orchids off the bench. I have a small collection of about 300, but I have enough variety to have something in bloom most of the year.



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