Lighting ????

[meviva]

Hi,

How much light is needed for growing Phal's and Paph's? I have a 24 inch 17 watt flourescent light (supposed to give off 75w worth of light) on my plant stand and I wonder if that is enough. Does anyone know the amount of wattage it takes to make the 1000-1500 footcandles required for these orchids? The bulb is supposed to be a grow light...it has a purplish glow to it. Would a broad spectrum bulb be better? Also, how far away should the lights be from the leaves? I would appreciate the help. Thanks,
Andrea

[Bard]

Hi Meviva,
I am a newbi and just joined this site so my comment should be taken as such but I have successfully bloomed paphs., both species and hybred, with 2 - 8" 6100K and 1- 8" 3000K total wattage of 18 watts. They don't need much light and for a 12-14 hour photo period certainly not anything like 1000 - 1500 foot candles. My research suggests that 350-500 foot candles for 10-14 hours is plenty, although it probably won't hurt to give them more that. In nature they would not get those higher, 1000 - 1500, levels for very long each day.