I have been preaching this for nearly a year: you get what you pay for. Good light meters (calibrateable) are the only ones worth spending money on. The only definitive way to describe how much light is being provided is to measure it. Glad you made that discovery and glad that discovery led to better success. Exactly as I would have predicted
I also trust you have found great success with t5 florescents. By the way, it is possible to "fry" your orchids under these lights if the foot-candles or lumens are not controlled - whoah! We're back to the light meter
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Ross
http://orchids-ross.blogspot.com/
I don't do most Dendros or large, "floofy orchids". For me it's minis (like Angraecoides), Masdies, Paphs, and others that crept in somewhere along the line. See my orchid list for complete collection (usually not current.)