Is anyone out there growing under these? I can't believe what I'm reading what these will do. Youtube has videos too. You would recoup your costs shortly if you left HID lighting I grow solely under HID lights in the basement. Upstairs under light carts. Phrags, paphs, phals, aerangis, and a couple of vandas. Do they really work?
LED lights
- Thread starter junglejim
- Start date
Help Support Slippertalk Orchid Forum:
G
goldenrose
Guest
Lighting was a subject matter at an orchid club meeting, the underlights guys, which most are very tech savvy, say no not yet.
I'm having great success in my trial with LED lights, but they're not the type actually made for growing plants (those magenta/purply/red ones). The trick is to get high quality white lighting with a beam intense enough to do any real good. How high you want to mount the lights above the plants must come into consideration as well. The higher the lights are mounted, the more narrow the angle of the beam must be. Using flood lights mounted high above your plants will likely yield poor results for you no matter what the sellers may say. Bottom line: Wide angle beam LEDs must be mounted directly over your plants. Narrow angle beam LEDs work from a distance. Use only the most current LED technology available which employs the surface mounted LED chips. Buy good quality brand name lights. Cheap lights don't last long.
Here's what I am using: ALT (Aeon Lighting Technology brand) BR30 Natural White 15 watt lamps with a 38° angle beam. These bulbs are in a track light with the bottom edge of the bulbs about 29 inches above my plants. It's taking more bulbs than I had planned on using, but four of these bulbs still use only 60 watts. They cover an area of 20 inches x 24 inches with enough intensity to support several of my Neofinetia falcata plants, some of which are currently in bloom, a couple other mini vandaceous hybrids and my little Laeliocattleya hybrid which is also currently in bloom. All have active, healthy, sturdy growth. None are weak and spindly.
On my dining room table I am successfully growing and blooming my Phal Tzu Chiang Balm under an LED spotlight with a 20° angle beam and a color temperature of 4200K. There's a span of about 30 inches between the bottom of the bulb and the top of the plant. I will be repotting the plant into a taller pot and lowering the lamp, so I believe I will switch to a lamp with a 25° or 30° angle.
I'm simply amazed at how bright these lamps are. My plants are all responding exceedingly well. I was growing exclusively in my basement under HID lighting, but now I am growing mostly in an eastern window under these LED lamps. Most days I forget to open the opaque aluminum mini blinds, so very little natural light ever reaches my plants anyway. :rollhappy: My use of electricity has plummeted as has the bill. :clap:
Here's what I am using: ALT (Aeon Lighting Technology brand) BR30 Natural White 15 watt lamps with a 38° angle beam. These bulbs are in a track light with the bottom edge of the bulbs about 29 inches above my plants. It's taking more bulbs than I had planned on using, but four of these bulbs still use only 60 watts. They cover an area of 20 inches x 24 inches with enough intensity to support several of my Neofinetia falcata plants, some of which are currently in bloom, a couple other mini vandaceous hybrids and my little Laeliocattleya hybrid which is also currently in bloom. All have active, healthy, sturdy growth. None are weak and spindly.
On my dining room table I am successfully growing and blooming my Phal Tzu Chiang Balm under an LED spotlight with a 20° angle beam and a color temperature of 4200K. There's a span of about 30 inches between the bottom of the bulb and the top of the plant. I will be repotting the plant into a taller pot and lowering the lamp, so I believe I will switch to a lamp with a 25° or 30° angle.
I'm simply amazed at how bright these lamps are. My plants are all responding exceedingly well. I was growing exclusively in my basement under HID lighting, but now I am growing mostly in an eastern window under these LED lamps. Most days I forget to open the opaque aluminum mini blinds, so very little natural light ever reaches my plants anyway. :rollhappy: My use of electricity has plummeted as has the bill. :clap:
Last edited:
Wow!!!!!!Thanks, everyone . . . I've heard the technology is coming and there are creative ways to hang these also . . . My great room at night is illuminated by 27 watts, I can turn on all the lights. Oh wow, now if I could just get the plants going under the LED grow lights, I won't have the Clark Griswald Christmas Vacation electric meter spinning to create the Northern Lights in the basement...
I will second Lanmark. I am using the same brand of light (obtained from Orchids Limited). I have 13 of the 38 degree natural white bulbs, 9 of the 60 degree bulbs, and 9 of the 120 degree bulbs in my plant room. Theses replaced a large number of fluorescent and CFL bulbs. I now have headroom over the plants and much better temperature and humidity control. The 38 degree bulbs need to be 30 inches above the main leaf zone, the 60 degree about 18 inches, and the 120 degree about 6 inches. I am about 7 months in to this experiment. I am cautiously optimistic having bloomed Catts, Phrags, Phals, and Paphs. However, getting everything correct, including day length, is important and I am still experimenting.
The big advantage for me as an indoor grower is gaining headroom. I can now have Phals and Phrags in spike/bloom still getting good light under the light. Yes, you decrease electricity costs, but gaining headroom and less heat was more important to me.
The big advantage for me as an indoor grower is gaining headroom. I can now have Phals and Phrags in spike/bloom still getting good light under the light. Yes, you decrease electricity costs, but gaining headroom and less heat was more important to me.
The red and blue LEDs are great for growing, but absolutely awful if you actually want to look at your plants. Black leaves are scary, even if you know they're healthy.
The newer, phosphor-type bulbs are a major improvement, as just like a fluorescent, they can tailor the phosphor for specific color temperatures. I am playing with some 6500°K ones now, but it's too soon to provide any commentary on them.
The newer, phosphor-type bulbs are a major improvement, as just like a fluorescent, they can tailor the phosphor for specific color temperatures. I am playing with some 6500°K ones now, but it's too soon to provide any commentary on them.
Yeah I can't handle the black appearance of the leaves when the lights are on, and the ambient light thrown by these LEDs give me a headache. I plan to do like terryros and switch over to all LED for all of my plants. I don't think I'll be using any of the 60° or 120° lights, though, as I also value my headroom over my plants. I purchased some of my lamps online through Jermic LED in Minneapolis. The quality of the ALT brand seems so far to be absolutely impeccable.
Jermic LED is a subsidiary company of Jerry Fischer from Orchids Limited, so you are helping our dwindling group of orchid growers/breeders when you buy from him. My fingers are crossed for the "natural white" spectrum to grow and bloom things well because the plants and the flowers all look true colors as under regular daylight. They look more true than under the fluorescent/CFL bulbs that I had before. But, looking good doesn't help if they don't grow and bloom well. I want to see a whole year of growth and blooming before I will decide that the whole project is a success. That leaves another 6 months or so to go for me.
Yes, but I am always appropriately skeptical. I approach all of orchid stuff as a scientific experiment! Growth looks very good on everything but I have to wait and see how things bloom this next Fall and Winter.
