Orchids on Mars

[Shiva]

I'm testing a new LED panel, this one a 900W Mars II with 5W diodes.
Very bright, very quiet and very heavy (28 Pounds). Uses less than 500W.
Put some of my orchids and a few other large plants, including a coffee tree under with excellent results.
I read many pot growers are using these and more powerful one instead of HID lamps with good success.
Lamp produce insignificant amount of heat.
If I'm still satisfied next fall, I'll buy a tent and grow mounted plants inside. Humidity, light and heat should be just right.

 

[NYEric]

The heat conservation will be a good thing in the warmer seasons.

 

[Secundino]

500W?? That is three time what I use in all my rooms, including aquaria..... you really mean 500W?
With 500 W - a few t8 fluorescents - you could light many m2 with plants.

 

[ALToronto]

How can a 900 W light fixture use 500 W? Not to mention that 900 W will light a stadium. I think you're mixing up your input and output wattages, and multiplying by 10.

 

[Shiva]

500W?? That is three time what I use in all my rooms, including aquaria..... you really mean 500W?
With 500 W - a few t8 fluorescents - you could light many m2 with plants.

The panel itself is rated at 900W but actually uses around 460W or perhaps a bit more. It covers 4x4 feet in bright light with about 95 per cent efficiency. It can cover a 5x5 area for less demanding plants like phals and paphs. The company also sells 1200 and 1600W panels which offer larger coverage.

I used to grow orchids with two 1000W HID lamps in the past. Of course then, I had many more plants.

 

[Shiva]

How can a 900 W light fixture use 500 W? Not to mention that 900 W will light a stadium. I think you're mixing up your input and output wattages, and multiplying by 10.

Diodes are only a few millimeters across and they would burn up if used at full power. Considering the efficiency of the lights the reduction of power makes them last for at least 50,000 hours.

 

[Happypaphy7]

Look like my set up in the kitchen.
I flowered paph ( Maudiae type), phals, miniature dendrobium species, angeraecum, and others.
Now I use it mostly for seedlings.

 

[gonewild]

Does the color actually like this in the room oris it only because of the wb in the camera?

 

[Shiva]

Does the color actually like this in the room oris it only because of the wb in the camera?

Yes this is the right color. Those kind of lights are designed for what the plants need, red, yellow and blue. Human eyesight is keyed for white light. Lamps of this type are 95 per cent efficient (more or less depending on the hype) for producing plant food and growth. If you want, you can put a few compact fluorescent lights around to get the green out.
LED come in various forms: you can have a completely blue panel for growth only and a red one for flowering, or like the one shown here to promote both growth and flowering. If you want to see the true colors of the flowers, you have to get them out in natural light. But don't kid yourself, those lights are so bright that you don't want to look at them face on.

 

[gonewild]

Yes this is the right color. Those kind of lights are designed for what the plants need, red, yellow and blue. Human eyesight is keyed for white light. Lamps of this type are 95 per cent efficient (more or less depending on the hype) for producing plant food and growth. If you want, you can put a few compact fluorescent lights around to get the green out.
LED come in various forms: you can have a completely blue panel for growth only and a red one for flowering, or like the one shown here to promote both growth and flowering. If you want to see the true colors of the flowers, you have to get them out in natural light. But don't kid yourself, those lights are so bright that you don't want to look at them face on.

So how can you tell if the plant is growing correctly if you can't see the real colors? I look for subtle changes in leaf color to know how things are going.... I need to see my plants on Earth not Mars!
I will not give up the beauty of the color of natural light and move to a modern space station life style! You guys are nuts. :wink:

 

[Paphluvr]

500W?? That is three time what I use in all my rooms, including aquaria..... you really mean 500W?
With 500 W - a few t8 fluorescents - you could light many m2 with plants.

Why does 500w seem high? When I was growing under light my main bench was 30"w x 8'l. The lighting was two dual lamp HO strip fluorescent fixtures with a homemade reflector. This provided 440w to an area of 20 sq ft. (I believe that's about 2 sq m).

 

[Shiva]

Lance, Mars is only the name of the company. Remember we, up north, where we have to grow plants inside for months, the cost of energy is something we need to think of.

That said, I respect your opinion.

 

[gonewild]

Your eyes NEED to see the natural color of light or your brain will go insane!
oke:

You're using 500w energy to light an area that you could light with 250w of HID, or am I missing something? And during the winter surely you benefit from the heat from HID?

 

[Shiva]

Lance! I did mention it was a test. If I'm satisfied, I will use it in a grow tent where I can grow high light requirement orchids, like vandas and some large and small cattleyas. And the heat output and more humidity are important factors in such an enclosed area. I know, I know: I won't even see them anymore. But I still have large plants I can put under an HID lamp if I want to. But for now, I'm testing a new lamp.

 

[mrhappyrotter]

Ugh. This thread just prompted me to do some calculations on my growing area. This is very rough non-metric math, but as I see it.....

The sum total of energy from lights devoted to growing plants is roughly 770w, primarily from T8s and a few supplemental CFL spiral bulbs. A very rough estimate of my growing area (primarily shelves) is 504 sq.ft. That puts my plants at around 1.5 watt per square foot. Not bad ... that's similar to what you might use in a planted aquarium.

The eye opening part is that I hadn't realized I'm up to 770w of lights ... it's actually more because I also have a number of fish tanks, on shelves, lit with T8s and compact fluorescent bulbs that I didn't count since they aren't dedicated directly to the terrestrial plants.

 

[Shiva]

Ugh. This thread just prompted me to do some calculations on my growing area. This is very rough non-metric math, but as I see it.....

The sum total of energy from lights devoted to growing plants is roughly 770w, primarily from T8s and a few supplemental CFL spiral bulbs. A very rough estimate of my growing area (primarily shelves) is 504 sq.ft. That puts my plants at around 1.5 watt per square foot. Not bad ... that's similar to what you might use in a planted aquarium.

The eye opening part is that I hadn't realized I'm up to 770w of lights ... it's actually more because I also have a number of fish tanks, on shelves, lit with T8s and compact fluorescent bulbs that I didn't count since they aren't dedicated directly to the terrestrial plants.

A hobby is expensive by nature. You can't factor in the cost of the pleasure you get from your hobby, which is really why you do it. I used to have a greenhouse for my orchids and I only gave it up when I couldn't afford the rising cost of heating it through our winters. Since then, I've tried every growing and lighting systems you can think of. All very expensive but I enjoyed every minutes of it. Still do!

And I have a cold storage area that gets down to near 0°C in winter, complete with shelves... A few cheap T8 would do wonder for masdies and dracs, or Disas, among others.

 

[gonewild]

Ugh. This thread just prompted me to do some calculations on my growing area. This is very rough non-metric math, but as I see it.....

The sum total of energy from lights devoted to growing plants is roughly 770w, primarily from T8s and a few supplemental CFL spiral bulbs. A very rough estimate of my growing area (primarily shelves) is 504 sq.ft. That puts my plants at around 1.5 watt per square foot. Not bad ... that's similar to what you might use in a planted aquarium.

The eye opening part is that I hadn't realized I'm up to 770w of lights ... it's actually more because I also have a number of fish tanks, on shelves, lit with T8s and compact fluorescent bulbs that I didn't count since they aren't dedicated directly to the terrestrial plants.

You really really should not add all this up.

 

[gonewild]

Lance! I did mention it was a test. If I'm satisfied, I will use it in a grow tent where I can grow high light requirement orchids, like vandas and some large and small cattleyas. And the heat output and more humidity are important factors in such an enclosed area. I know, I know: I won't even see them anymore. But I still have large plants I can put under an HID lamp if I want to. But for now, I'm testing a new lamp.

OK, as long as the grow tent is sealed so the ugly says inside.
That will be OK.

 

[ALToronto]

These blue and red lights are a holdover from the pot growers who grow their plants as annuals. I will never be convinced that a partial spectrum is sufficient for longterm growth and health of orchids and other perennial plants. It's like feeding only N-P-K and nothing else - the plants will grow and may even bloom - once. But you couldn't keep it up longterm.

And for all those with fluorescents - discover white LED's!! They're so much more energy efficient for the same light output, and with much better quality light.

 

[Linus_Cello]

The heat conservation will be a good thing in the warmer seasons.

Probably another reason why the pot growers like this- no need to worry about thermal imaging in cold weather and police visits.