florescents....how far away should leaves b

[Cinderella]

I have read varying accounts of how far away from florescent lights orchids should be.....everything from directly underneath, almost touching, to 6-8 inches away. I am in the process of setting up my "Lisa-like shelves" and wanted to determine where I will mount the lights.

Can anyone who grows this way tell me what they do?

[Kenner]

I just started growing under flourescents in June. If they are hight light orchids, I put them an inch or two from the lights. Any closer, I think they would burn. Medium light orchids I put about 6 inches away, and low light orchids about 12 inches away. But I am just a newbie, maybe somebody with more experience will chime in. So far they are growing. Now, I just have to get them to bloom!

Good Luck

[TADD]

I usually have my plants as close as possible. My paphs at most are 6 inches away. I have fading only on one specie so I moved it away from the center of the lights to the edges. None of my plants have burnt or faded at all. I use regular cool and warm light bulbs and I am having great results so far. Good Luck!
Tadd

[Jmoney]

It depends a great deal on what kind of plant it is. Even among the paphs, some I'd keep within 2 inches of the bulbs, while others I would keep 10" away. It also depends on # of bulbs, length of bulbs, and location (center vs. edges).

[Cinderella]

How about a paph concolor in bud? Is it ok to have a plant in bud under the light and how many inches away for that one?

[Jmoney]

you can grow almost every paph under lights...although the spikes on some may be a problem for tubes. concolor, however, has very short spikes that won't cause any issue. 6-12 inches should suffice, but that is dependent on # of tubes, length of tubes, and whether you stick it near the center or near the ends.

[Cinderella]

Jason, if the concolor is near the end of the tube and I have 4 tubes above the shelf, can it be closer or is 6 inches the minimum? Thanks-

[Jmoney]

You probably won't burn it even if you stick it 2 inches below the tubes, but there's no need if it's in flower. You'll probably get better yellow color if you keep it 6-10 inches away. concolor has, in my opinion, some of the finest leaves in the genus, and I'd personally grow them a little shadier to accentuate those markings.

[Slipperhead]

I was about to post a new thread on my lighting rack setup but I thought this might be more appropriate.

After being inspired by others growing under lights (Tadd maybe?), I thought I would give it a try myself. I'm glad I did. All of the plants are doing well and I enjoy having them here in my office so I can watch them.

I have mostly paphs in the collection and they are about 4-6" under the light tubes. The paphs are both strap- and mottled-leafed.

I have some new cycnoches seedlings in the second shelf. Somoe of them are actually touching the tubes. One week and no leaf damage so far!

I have the bottom shelf set up for larger plants like oncids and plants in spike. Except for the spiking plants, I want these plants as close to the lights as possible. I'm still in the experimental stage.

I'm using Phillips C50 full-spectrum tubes in boxstore twin 48" fixtures. I have two fixtures per shelf with a total of 4 tubes. These tubes are cool to the touch.

This is a fun project, so far!

[Liz]

Garland, that looks great! So much better than the setup I just threw together. I bought a shelf at HD without paying attention to how long it was (36") so the 48" shop lights I already had are too long and hang over the ends. Tacky, tacky, tacky. I fear I'm just going to have to get me a new 48" shelf... What to do with the old shelf? I'm sure they make 36" shop lights... What great ideas! And come spring when everything goes back outside, look at all the room I'll have for new seedlings. This just keeps getting better.

More seriously, I got Philips tubes at HD (I can't remember the exact name) that purport to be like natural sunlight. Is that the same kind you're using?