A few questions.

[Theodoreorchidking]

1. I have this phalaenopsis Ballina that has a good root system but has not put out a leaf for probably a year now. It is shown in a 4 inch pot. I have phalaenopsis gigantea and it is putting out a leaf and looks happy. Except for these brown coloration on the bottom of the older leafs.

2. For botanical leds how much do these cost to run about? I use the spike producer ones and use 3. However I was thinking of condensing my collection to a rack system and have two lights per shelf: 4 shelf.
Thanks

 

[Theodoreorchidking]

The phalaenopsis bellina

 

[gonewild]

What are your night and day temperatures?

 

[Theodoreorchidking]

What are your night and day temperatures?

669-85 for max and min. 72 average

 

[gonewild]

Maybe the belina would like warmer temperature to initiate vegetative growth.

 

[big923cattleya]

I grow bellina, violacea etc under LED’s. They are on a plant cart shelf, about 9-10 inches below twin tubes. These are 6,500k and are on a timer. 10 hours a day during the winter, 11 hours a day spring and fall and 12 hours during the summer. I water somewhere between every 3-5 days depending upon humidity, season and air movement.
Mine grow like weeds, new leaves and roots are everywhere but they are NOT what I would call “fast growers”. They often show inflorescences in March and April, typically 3-5 flowers per.
I do not grow mine in medium bark like your image shows. Mine are in pots featuring the media in layers. Media on the bottom, sphagnum layer in the middle, top dressed with media.
My collection is a blend of hybrids and species. I fertilize every three weeks.

I run a total of 26 tubes on three different carts and the electric bill showed a very small increase when I installed them. I don’t even think it is more then $12-15 a month for ALL! That is not a lot for 26 tubes with about 150-175 orchids.

 

[Ray]

Both phalaenopsis are hot growers, In nature, neither will rarely, if ever, see lower than the low-to-mid 70's and thrive in the 90's or even triple digits.

Wattage of lamp x hours run per month = watt-hours. Divide by 1000 to get KWH, and multiply that by the rate your electric utility charges.

 

[Justin]

I have tried to grow them in normal indoor temperatures (and quite chilly in the winter evenings) -- multiple times. They always died after a year max. It is just how it is with these.

 

[Justin]

Forgot to mention, if you want to grow these indoors, a lot of growers will put a heating pad under them.

 

[Nancy T]

Orchideya wrote about how he grows his 3 phal bellina's and phal. violacea in a post on Aug. 1, 2012.

 

[NYEric]

Phals warm, not too bright.

 

[Nancy T]

Here's the link to the article about phal bellina along with nice photos:
https://www.slippertalk.com/threads/phalaenopsis-bellina.26624/

 

[JustinR]

I've got a bellina that I've had for 15 years and it survives just fine in normal household temps (18 - 23 deg C). Probably would grow faster if it was warmer but it seems to be able to withstand considerably cooler temperatures than what I expected, and the same can be said for some other "warm growing" phal species such as luedemannia which also grows quite well for me. They go kind of dormant in Winter, so important to be careful with watering them during the winter. Fresh media also helps them to survive in these less than ideal conditions.