Low-profile grow lights?

[poetiscariot]

My orchids are set up on the top shelf of a bookcase in my living room. I have a CFL grow light hung from the ceiling, and they're right in an eastern window so they get tons of light. They are getting a little crowded, though, because I've gotten better at keeping them healthy.



I'm thinking about mounting a grow light of some kind underneath the top shelf and putting another humidity tray down there and relocating my young & mini plants. There's clearance of about 11" total, and I'm wondering if that would be enough. Humidity tray is about 2", and the slimmest grow lights I'm finding are LED ones, 1.5" thick. Say my mini phals and neofinitias and so forth are 3-5" tall, that puts them 2.5-4.5" below the lights. If I get an LED light, heat shouldn't be a problem, but I don't know if you want plants that close even to a cool light source. Thoughts?

[Brutal_Dreamer]

First, congratulations on your growing!! Always a nice feeling that your plants are so healthy. Secondly, to your question, I think your plants should be fine that close to a cool light. I *think* heat would be the biggest concern of growing orchids under lights at that close of a range. LEDs will not produce heat - or very limited heat, so I believe it could help increase your grow area. I should say that I do not grow under lights, so those that do and have more experience here should chime in and tell you what their experience has shown. Good luck!

Cheers,
BD

[Dorsetman]

I have used fluorescent strip lights - long before LEDs were invented - and had a lot of success raising Odontoglossum seedlings from community pot stage onwards , using these strip lights about 8 inches above the leaves. Ideally you should get a light meter and check levels, or maybe you can manage with a camera, especially one which shows you what exposure setting it has selected, as the bigger SLRs do; if yoiu can get use of one, you want to see what reading you get from the leaves of the plants you are growing successfully in your existing set-up, then see what you get from your proposed set-up . This may tell you whether it is too bright or not bright enough.