Tell me about your lights!

[Dollythehun]

These strip fasten under my shelves with small bolts. I imagine you could use wire ties. They come with loops to suspend them. Each one has a small built in reflector and they don't generate much heat at all. At the top I have a 2' t5 unit hanging. We were just discussing changing it to a 4' and moving this one to the left. My problem now is the plants that are too tall to fit on a shelf. They have clip ons shining in them which I don't care for.

[greenpassion]

Reptile girl, I have a few pics posted here. Go to "My set up" . I use led bulbs from Orchids Limited. They are in track heads, e26 base, 20 degree angle. The other info- lumens etc is written down at home. It makes a really attractive set up that is on a counter that divides my kitchen and living room. I have ALL the phals under them in spike. The pic was taken this past summer, when only about 3/4 of them were blooming. This year it's 100%. These are great bulbs. Natural light color. I have them on 16 hrs per day. They are 4ft away from the plants, on a heat mat, with small hidden fans for air circulation, and 2 humidifiers going. Super happy plants.

[jkofferdahl]

Any supplemental light system can be of benefit, but I have to agree with Ray (something I've found myself doing a frightful amount of lately) that different situations requite differing set-ups, and so it helps to know something about your own conditions. I personally am a fan of T5 lights. In an area with little ambient lighting these do a great job. I have Cattleya-type plants virtually up to the bulbs, and Phals about 12 to 14 inches below. However, next to a west-facing window I have the plants a bit farther from the lights. This works in my case, but may not in yours. It's important to take ambient light into account in setting up the light fixtures, and also, with T5s, important FOR ME that I've hung them on adjustable hangings so I can move the light closer to or farther from the plants.

[Dollythehun]

It helps me to know what systems are available, in all areas of growing. One of the.members suggested mine, so I checked it out. I tried to order from Ray but, he had just sold his last bulb...

[Subrosa]

All of my lighting is repurposed aquarium lighting designed for either reef or fresh water planted aquaria. This year it's largely supplemental, as my new place has much better light than the old. However lots of stuff bloomed last season solely under the lights, including high light Cymbidium and Vanda. I'm running 2 x 120W Taotronics led panels suspended about 4' above a 2' x 4' shelf in front of south facing windows that I grow the high light and larger plants under. My other setup is a 3' wire bakers rack with Zetlight Lancia Series led striplights, 1 strip on the low light shelf for Phals, 2 on the shelf for Cattleya. The really nice thing about the strips is how they mount to the rack. The light has 2 extendable bars, one at either end to allow it to adjust to fit different sized aquaria. By removing the bars, positioning the light and re-inserting the bars the lights mount securely to the rack with no extra mounts or tools needed.

[Subrosa]

I wouldn't be able to give you any numbers other than the manufacturer's specs. I've seen these grow Montipora through 3' of water, so I figured that 4' would be ok. It had to be, due to the height of my Cymbidium Little Black Sambo, which is over 3' tall. Of course it has leaves a few inches away from the lights, which no doubt is why it bloomed. The 4' shelf unit currently sits in front of a pair of south facing windows and now that the leaves are down it's bathed in sunlight most of the day. The 3' rack sits in front of a SW facing window and gets good afternoon sunlight. I actually have a few plants, including a blooming Cattleya in a window a few feet away along the same wall! To have actual sunny window space.........

[Ray]

This is a broadly-followed, public forum - an online community, if you will - and communities look out for each other.

When most here post, they appear to keep that in mind, recognizing that the comments serve many, not just themselves or the individual addressed in a response.

If everyone had the self-centered attitude of "I didn't ask for that", or "show me what you've done so I can make up my own mind", the group would gain very little knowledge.

The same may be said for the flag icon selection. Of course there are many different cultural conditions across a nation as large as the US (not that it matters, as most of the orchids we grow cannot be grown in the ambient climate anyway), but many of us, when seeing the flag of the individual, may understand that cultural differences make it better to respond in a way that is different from what it might be if responding to another from one's own country. Expressions have different meanings (or none at all), and some common words have totally different meanings, depending upon where one lives, to name a couple of potential pitfalls of ignoring that.

Cooperation on all fronts is what makes this a great meeting place.

[Subrosa]

Lighting for the self-delusional

[Manu]

I think y'all know I highly like and recommend the Ikea Vaxer lights, and I also know you used them and were quite happy I think... Why not use the same?? I am using them as my unique light source and am successfully growing and blooming different plants. I won't go on about it here, I already did a pretty thorough review about them..

[smokinjoe1952]

Here is my lighting setup, clipped from a previous post. The only thing I might add is that since they are dimmable, I don't need to ask ambient light levels, type of plants etc. I have even bought some shade cloth and made a little awning for 1/2 of my low light shelf, so I can have a low, low light area. You can also find on Amazon grow light rope hangers to adjust height if dimming is not enough.

Hope this helps.

Joe

****************
I posted this a few days ago. These are higher end fixtures though:

I have been using two 44" INDOOR spectrum LED fixtures from FLUENCE BIOENGINEERING for several months now. I really like these lights for the following reasons:

No particular order.

1. Lightweight and small size
2. High Output
3. High efficiency
4. Dimmable (to me this was big)
5. High CRI
6. Defined umol output, so you can interpolate required light levels for various orchid types knowing what the fixture provides at full output at 1 foot.

I had previously tried a non-dimmable red/blue LED light, and found myself constantly taking a plant out of the grow chamber to inspect it since the colors were so far off. The high CRI allows the plant to be viewed while illuminated by the fixture.