Tell me about your lights!

[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.

[reptilegrrl]

I did not ask anyone for a "decent, educated guess" at what I might need. I asked people to tell me about *their* light setups, which would help me in determining, myself, what might work for me. (I think you are entirely correct that without living with my environment, no one can give me any kind of recommendation, which is why I did not ask for one. It is very curious to me that you keep pretending that I did.)

You proceeded, and continue to proceed, as though I asked for recommendations, estimates, and educated guesses WRT what would work for me, when I did not. That is why your comment was rude and condescending, and your follow-up here is no different.

I get the impression that you've been posting here for so long that maybe you don't bother to read people's posts anymore, you just assume you know what they are asking and comment accordingly. But as my desire not to display a flag on my profile is irrelevant and I was not remotely rude about it, your decision to bring it here, indicates to me that you know you were wrong and are grasping at straws in order to attack me instead of just admitting your original response was irrelevant and rude.

You are very knowledgeable about orchids and I've learned from your web pages and posts here, and I appreciate that very much.

Originally Posted by Ray

What I was trying to communicate is that you need to share more info before anyone can give you a decent, educated guess at what you might need. Photos of others' setups are of little benefit without being able to make a comparison, an estimate, if you will, of the complete situation. So yes, because they don't live in your house with your lighting - nor do they have your plants - they can't offer anything particularly helpful, and if they did, it is still of little value to you, because you don't know their situation.

Your response to my query, like your attitude in a previous thread, when queried by your choice of flag symbol (and no, this is not a "Go USA" comment), doesn't do a great deal to make me want to help, and I'd bet that I'm not alone.

---------- Post added at 03:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:06 PM ----------

Thanks! I have been eyeing aquarium LED panels but thought they might not have enough red spectrum to grow orchids. The aquarium leds just seem so convenient in terms of mounting or suspending them (and being premade.) I'm especially impressed that the Taotronics ones are still effective 4 feet above your plants! Do you happen to know what kind of FC or PPFD your plants are receiving?

Originally Posted by 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.

---------- Post added at 03:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:18 PM ----------

Thanks for sharing! I agree with Ray too, that's why instead of asking someone to recommend something for my environment, I am just asking to know about your setups

The lighting in my living room has changed a LOT over the year via tree removals and weather and fence removal and etc, and I have no plants growing in the area where my future shelf is going to be. So there's really no data to offer, which is why it makes more sense (to me) to just find out what's working well for other people. There are just so many lights out there on the market, and all of them have their marketing claims, so knowing what is working best for home growers helps me to make an informed decision.

Originally Posted by 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.

[camille1585]

Reptilgrrl, your latest post, among others, is not the sort of thing we like to see on OB. When you post on a public forum, it often happens to recieve off topic responses or people putting in well intentioned but unsollicited suggestions. Accept that this happens and sift though the posts for the information you need rather than reacting inappropriately. Usually people are asking for suggestions and personal experiences, so I think it was natural to assume it was the case here, and orchid growers like to try to help others. In the end you'll make the decision on the lights yourself, but experience and reccomendations from seasoned growers is not something to be simply disregarded very rudely.

I see nothing wrong with what Ray posted. He is a long time and highly knowledgeable member of OB, for which I have a huge amount of respect, and he has been a very positive addition to the OB community over the years. Since most people come here asking for suggestions, asking for more information on your light situation was fair and has never drawn such a negative reaction in past threads.

As a general comment, OB is usually a very friendly place, so let's try to keep rude language out of this thread, and treat other people wih respect and stay polite. If that's not possible then I will lock this thread.

[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.