New Orchids and my grow area

As, usual, whenever I go to Brussels, I have to buy a few Orchids and bring them back with me, so I got the following this time:

1- Paph jackii (picture 1)
2 -Cymbidium lancifolium var. gracile (vietnam) - pic 2
3- Paph helenae with 5 growths (no picture- well part of it is in the second pic on the right in a small pot)
4- Arundina - or bamboo Orchid (no picture) I a have it outside in near full sun

I have also added two new pictures of my grow area, as I have added some fluorescent lighting (55 W X 2) so basically 4100K X 2 as it reads on box. I have no idea if it is enough or not but it is to supplement the natural lighting as I have noticed that I am getting less light in the summer, probablly due to the earth's position. In the winter, I can get a lot of sunlight.

Thanks for looking guys!

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Cool, Fadi! Can't wait to see the Paph jackii in bloom. All look great.

Cheers,
BD

Looks great! Congratulations for the new additions! Your growing place looks good and you have soooooooooo much free space there...

Yeah I still have a lot of space that I am planning to fill pretty soon Margo
I have added two pictures of the Arundina (bamboo Orchid) and the Paph helenae.

Thanks for the comments guys..

Fadi

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The paph looks happy with new leaves!!

Cheers,
BD

Hi, since I am out of window sill space I am moving most of my 55 orchids to the basement. I have never grown under lights before and am getting very intimidated. The are I am using is about 10' x 10'. It has a large double sliding door that faces directly East. The two wall are going to be covered in white plastic. I am planing on using shop lights. How many will I need and will this plan work. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. thnaks, Bill

If you are using fluorescent lights, be sure to use bulbs that are for plant growing. The number of fixtures you will need depends on the space, what you are growing, how large the fixtures are, and how much light is coming from the window. I grow mostly Paphs and Phals by a sliding glass door that provides some, but not a lot of light. For years I have used 48 inch T12 fixtures, but recently changed one of the fixtures to T5 and it is so much brighter and the plants seem to be responding. If you are relying on the lights to provide most of the light they will be getting, then you will need to hang the fixtures close to the plants-within 12 inches. If you are planning on using a large, whole room type of growing area, you might look into a metal halide or HPS system.

Susan

Bill, you may want to look at getting shop light fixtures for T8 or T5 bulbs (electronic ballasts) instead of the cheaper T12 shop fixtures. I have been looking into LED lights- expensive and don't cover the shelf space with light spread too well, so maybe I can get the replacement kit for converting 4 foot flourescent fixtures into a fixture that will hold an LED stick. Have I gotten you even more confused? Your east patio doors will work well for lower light orchids, it's the ones that need higher lights to bloom that will need the supplemental lighting.