# Lighting question



## Jimsox (Apr 6, 2009)

I am new to slippers and was wondering what would be the best bulb to put in my t8 fixtures. They're just plain old shop lights, but I think I can use them for now with the right bulbs???? I have two four footers...well actually six, four footers I am going to put on my grow stand that I am going to build this weekend...Easter FUN!!! I am planning on having three shelves, the dimensions will be 48" long by 24" wide by 7 feet tall. No fixed top as I need to have room for the bloom. (i am a rapper)
I will put two shop lights to get a foursome of lights going on each level. I would also ask, what would be the best way to go in the future as a replacement for this light set-up? Please remember the dimensions, as I am trying to make a standard grow tray fit and use it as my base. I also am into Catts and Phals, so I may need two different light out puts for the shelves? This is the first stand I am making. I do have the whole room to grow into, but one rack for now. Please use terms a newbie can understand. If there are specific places you would suggest, please PM me with the names as I need to follow up on them. Thanks for your time reading this, I will figure out a way to post pics of my progress and the completed set up as well. Thanks...Jimi


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## smartie2000 (Apr 6, 2009)

A recommend cool white, for the simplist choice of flurescent tube. Some other white tube (I think daylight) give off too much green light of the colour spectrum, which is not useful to the plant, although they appear bright to out eyes.

If you want you may also use some tubes made for plants, although they may be more expensive. If I remember correctly sylvania was the brand I thought was better of the ones I tried.
There was a brand at home depot that just seemed to give mostly of the red spectrum, the tube glowed red. Sylvania glowed violet so it gave both blue and red, and less of what was inbetween. I'd say that blue light is more important for plant growth. Since orchids grow in shaded areas generally, blue would be more important for them because this colour is what would penetrate the forest mostly. I had fixtures with one cool white and one sylvania tube in the past.

Also the middle of the plant tubes will emitt more light. So I suggest that you place your cattleya in the middle of the tubes, while you place the phals near the ends of the tube. Also do that for your high light and low light slippers.


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## Jimsox (Apr 6, 2009)

Really? that simple just cool white lights? I have them in there now. Will they produce blooms just under these lights? That would help solve my situation. I am not really worried about the cost of the bulbs, I am just looking for the right combination to get growth and blooms. I have heard of alternating lights as well? How would I do this?


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Apr 6, 2009)

I use 3 cool whites and 1 warm white in each fixture....leave them on 16 hours/day. Cool whites are fine as long as you have a warm to balance the spectrum...don't waste your money on "grow" lights....they have fewer lumens and cost way more bucks...Take care, Eric


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## Ernie (Apr 6, 2009)

Yeah, Eric M is right. You don't need to super special bulbs. My rule of thumb: 4 tubes, 4' each, 32 (T8)/40 (T12) watts each is the bare minimum for a decent light shelf. Important thing is to change the tubes out about once a year even if they still fire (we rotate vs all at once)- they lose intensity pretty quick running 16 h/day. Hausermann's has 4'X2' trays for like $80 each, BUT Farm N Fleet has 2'X2' bunny cage litter trays for $12 each. Lots of info on under lights culture on our web site culture pages. See the PVC shelf plans and pix of our multi-level shelving units. SwampRad has a similar setup (where's he been???). Maybe take a peak at the Growing Areas Megathread here too. 

-Ernie


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## Orchidzrule (Apr 6, 2009)

Eric Muehlbauer said:


> Cool whites are fine as long as you have a warm to balance the spectrum...don't waste your money on "grow" lights....they have fewer lumens and cost way more bucks...Take care, Eric



Interesting! We had a guy give a presentation to our OS a few years back. He was a physics instructor, and used a lot of charts & graphs to demonstrate the only real difference between cool & warm whites was in the amount of blue light emitted--less from the warm than the cool. There was no real difference in the amount of red and he felt to get any extra amount of red light, you needed to have either a plant/aquarium (i.e. "grow" light) type tube or a full spectrum tube. His conclusion was warm whites were a waste of money--the diametric opposite of yours. I had been using a mix of warm & cool whites prior to that. Now what am I to believe? And why is my head starting to spin? LOL


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## Jimsox (Apr 6, 2009)

yeah, I'm right there with ya'.


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## cnycharles (Apr 6, 2009)

smartie2000 said:


> I'd say that blue light is more important for plant growth. Since orchids grow in shaded areas generally, blue would be more important for them because this colour is what would penetrate the forest mostly. I had fixtures with one cool white and one sylvania tube in the past.



not that it's really a big deal, but it is the far red or reddish light that penetrates through foliage and plants more than the others. when plants are exposed to the far red spectrum, it triggers stretching of the plant internodes, in an 'attempt' by the plant to get up above it's competitors or through covering foliage.

I think if you have two t8 four foot shoplights right next to each other (four bulbs), over a shelf that is slightly bigger than 2' x 4' (to hold the lights inside the shelf area in case you want to surround your plant area with plastic or other material) that would be a lot of light. I flowered nicely a cattleya walkeriana under one t12 shoplight, plant directly under the middle of the bulbs, same thing with a brassavola nodosa. Lots of blooms with many phal species under this setup, also if you think you need more light you can up the time the lights are on to about 16 hours. I read somewhere and forgot who, that if you went over 16 hours of light (for adult plants) that you would start having problems. Now if you are growing seedlings especially flasks I had heard that keeping the lights on 24/7 was a very good way to get those seedlings to grow very quickly. I can't verify that either is perfect or best, I grow with lights at 16 hours all the time and most plants works okay. There is some seasonal light that comes through windows that could help with day length issues and help things to flower that need a day length change that might not if I only had plants under lights in a basement


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## swamprad (Apr 7, 2009)

Ernie said:


> SwampRad has a similar setup (where's he been???).




I've been planning my new greenhouse!


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## Jimsox (Apr 7, 2009)

Ok, Ok ok, so tell me if I'm wrong...I am going to have 2, 2 bulbs side by side equalling 4 lights. I am going to have one cool and one warm in each. This should be enough for growth and to get them to bloom? No "grow" lights needed?


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## swamprad (Apr 7, 2009)

Yes, absolutely, that is what you need. I am growing and flowering slippers right and left with this setup. No need to buy the expensive grow lights.


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## Jimsox (Apr 7, 2009)

Ok thanks, done!!!!!! If it doesn't work, I know where you post!!!!! HA


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## Ernie (Apr 7, 2009)

swamprad said:


> I've been planning my new greenhouse!



Dude! Get out! Seriously???

-Ernie


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## Inverness (Apr 8, 2009)

In the new (April) issue of Orchids there is a very well written article detailing a very successful orchid grower working under lights. Lot's of useful info.

Ken Brewer


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## Ernie (Apr 8, 2009)

Oh yeah, my article on lights growing is in December 2008 issue.  Didn't get my April 2009 yet. ?? Usually it's here by now...

-Ernie


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## goldenrose (Apr 8, 2009)

Ernie said:


> Oh yeah, my article on lights growing is in December 2008 issue.  Didn't get my April 2009 yet. ?? Usually it's here by now...
> -Ernie


just got mine yesterday.


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## Jimsox (Apr 8, 2009)

And I find that magazine where?


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## Ernie (Apr 8, 2009)

Jimsox said:


> And I find that magazine where?



Your mailbox... if you're a member of the American Orchid Society. www.aos.org

-Ernie


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