Artificial Light for Orchids

When growing orchids indoors, you need to think about things like what kind of light do I need to supplement if my house does not have natural light in abundance

How long do I keep these artificial lights on? How do I know it's the right intensity

What is par? Lumens, CRI, foot candles. How far away do I keep my orchids from these lights

And what are the best lights to use? In this video, I'm going to go over the different types of terms that you need to know when choosing the correct light for your orchid

And I'm going to give you four solutions or possibilities that you can choose from to best provide for your orchid

for watching this video at Orchidaria. When I lived overseas, I grew all my orchids outdoors

so I didn't need to provide artificial lighting. But once I moved back to Kansas, I realized

that the house that I chose didn't have any good natural lighting for my orchids. My east-facing

window was right up next to my neighbor. So I had to provide artificial lighting. And I didn't know

how to grow orchids indoors and that's when I started my research. I had to provide the right lighting

the right humidity, the watering, everything was now provided by me and not nature. When orchids grow

outdoors, they get a full spectrum of sunlight, which is visible and non-visible. When light companies

saw the potential for selling light bulbs to orchid hobbyists and other indoor gardening hobbyists

they did research and realized that there were two colors that influenced plant growth the most

The first color is blue, which is vegetative growth. The second is a red wavelength, which will

produce a flower spike, which the plants naturally absorb more when they are in a flowering state

So these electrical companies that produced light bulbs, they produce these two wavelengths. That's

why you'll see red and blue lights, but we all know from our class that when you mix red and blue

they get this purply tinge color. Are those good for your orchids? Yes, they are. But

in nature, do orchids only get red and blue? No, those are the colors they absorb the most. So that's what

they're going to use the most. But they also use all the other colors in between. So when you

provide these purple lights, the orchids will react well. It's not that they won't, but they are

missing some of that full light spectrum that natural light will provide

With a little more research, the light companies came to find out that the hobbyists were moving away from these lights, so they produced a light called a lead light

The advantage of the lead light, and I will go into more detail about this in the video, is that they don't produce heat

If you have a light bulb that is converting energy to light and not just energy to light and heat, the cost will go significantly down

The cost will go significantly down. Let's start with one question, which is, how much light do orchids need

When you're growing them indoors, first you'll need to know that there are different types of orchids

Some will need more light. Others will need less light. But you can aim for at the beginning during winter, they'll need from 8 to 12 hours

hours of light a day. During summer, they can do from 12 to 14 hours of light a day. The time that the

orchids are under these lights is what's going to influence their interpretation of what season it is

The second thing we need to know about lighting is plants get their energy by the converting the

sunlight that hits on their leaves with the help of chlorophyll. So photosynthesis is what we're

aiming at because if we're providing artificial light, we want that light to hit the leaves

and transform this light into energy with the use of carbon with the aid of carbon and

chlorophyll. So it makes sense to measure a light's capacity to induce this photosynthetic reaction

in the plant. That is what PAR is called P-A-R. PAR is photosynthetically active radiation

So it the plant capability of getting that light and transforming that light into energy The range of measurements on par go from 400 nanometers to 700 nanometers

And this makes sense because on the light wave, that is what visible light measures at, 400 to 700 nanometers

Going back just a little bit, remember that the producers of light bulbs realize that plants will grow best

with red and blue wavelength links, they do not absorb green. The red ranges between 620 and 750 nanometers

So it's on the highest range of your light bulb. The blue is a cooler range of light

ranging between 450 and 490 nanometers. And just remembering the red, red will focus on flowering and budding and the blue will focus on vegetative growth like leaves and

roots another thing that is really important to know when we're talking about light conversion is the

temperature now we're used to Kelvin but when it comes to plants and when it comes to how they

absorb the light the Kelvin is going to be measured on what this light looks like at different

temperatures. We all know that Kelvin, the temperature can influence the color of the light

depending on what it is. When we measure light according to the temperature, it's called CRI

which is color rendering index. Just so you have a parameter, the sun is at 5,000 Kelvin

and it has a CRI of 100. So 100 would be the

maximum, like if our plants were outside during midday, during summer. And when we turn off all

the lights in the middle of the night or if we grow them indoors without any light at all

that would be closer to zero. So we have a parameter of CRA from zero to 100. You are looking for

lights. You want to get that number as close to 100 as possible. Fluorescent lights will range around

80 to 89 CRI. This part inverts a little bit because our natural thought is a little bit different

So bear with me here. A cool light leaning more toward the blue spectrum has a Kelvin of 5,000 to 6,000

Now, a red light, remember this is in terms of light, not in terms of temperature. That's why it

confuses us. A red spectrum is about 2,700 Kelvin. So it's a little bit different

You know, we think of terms of Kelvin only in temperatures, but remember, it's how the light reacts in these temperatures

So in this sense, a warm growing orchid will want 2,700 Kelvin when you're looking for lights

A intermediate orchid will want 4,200 Kelvin, and a cool growing orchid will want 6,000

So it's kind of inverted in our minds because we always think of Kelvin's temperature

But if you can separate that temperature from how the light interacts with the temperature

then you'll get it. So keep those parameters in mind. Foot candles is the next term that we're going to talk about

And foot candles is really neat because imagine you have one candle

And it's in a totally dark room. and you light it. How far that light reaches in terms of feet is one foot candle. So if you have a light that can

illuminate two foot candles, then you have a very weak light because it only illuminates two feet

For parameters on a bright summer day in the middle of the afternoon, you can have 10,000 foot candles

Now in terms of orchids, that is the number. that you'll want to, you know, you don't need to worry as much about PAR or CRI or any of those

others. You need to worry about foot candles. If you have an orchid that is a low light orchid

like phalanopsis orchids, you don't need that much light. Now, as I said before, my house has no

good windows. And if I, you know, those regrets that you only see after you move in. But

So it's artificial lighting for me. So my phalanopsis orchids are on the lower shelf back here

They do not require that much light. That's why people can grow them on their east facing windows

because that light comes in and that morning light, it's only for a couple hours

It doesn't heat up. That's important. Remember, light and heat are different

The phelenopsis orchids do not require that much light. So in terms of foot candles, they will only want 1,000 to 1,200 foot candles

Medium light orchids which are a step up they will prefer to have longer light absorptions or brighter light They can stay out a little bit longer

They will be between 2000 and 3,200. Now, these could be Cattlias

They could be dendrobiums. They can be other orchids like that. Highlight orchids, remember highlight orchids still do not like to be in full sun in the afternoon

Do not keep them outside all day where sunburn the leaves. You'll sunburn the whole flower and it will die

It also will overreact to the heat that it's getting. Highlight orchids will range in between 3,000 foot candles

So foot candles are what you really need to know about lighting

To convert foot candles to lumens for math people. One foot candle is 10,764 lex or 10 lumens per square meter, if you like the map

So I know this was very technical, but the best way, and I'll give you a little secret here

the best way to realize if your orchid is getting enough light, it's going to tell you, look at the leaves of your orchid

If you have a phalanopsis orchid, if it's dark, dark green, it's not

getting enough light. Catlia orchids will be a little lighter, a little yellow or green

and they're happy with that way. It's usually like a little sick color, but that's the color

they're happy with. If you have these dark, rich green, broccoli color leaves, then your orchids

not getting enough light. Another way to tell of foot candles, if you put your hand in between

the, here's the light source and here's your orchid leaf, if you put your

hand and you can see the exact outline of your hand, you're in a highlight situation. If you back your

light back up and you can see a slight outline of your hand and it's blurry but you can still

tell that the shadow is there, then you're at the right low, in between low light and warm light

orchids. So that's a good measure if you don't have it. Most smartphones will have apps that can measure the

lighting of your orchid. Of course, these are not as professional, but it will give you some idea of what

the light range is. This is a great tool to have because when we use our cameras, the camera lens

already adjust to how much light is in that surrounding. So it's a feature that's already built into your

camera the apps just read that and will tell you what the light is around you but don't trust them

the other thing that's really important to know is there are four types of lights there are fluorescent

and i have to read the list here because my memory is done fluorescent cfl which is compact

fluorescent lamps, H-ID high-intensity discharge, and LED grow light. So there's these four

The first one is the light bulb, you know, the idea lamp and don't use it. Why? Because first

that light is going to not only transform to light, but it's also going to transform into heat

So if you put a high light orchid right by the lamp, it's not only going to get the light, it's going to get heat, and it's going to sunburn that orchid

It also has to be replaced every three to five months. The second one, CFL, compact fluorescent lamps

So if you're just starting out with orchins and you don't want to spend a lot of money, you can get two fluorescent bulbs and put two per shelf

When you install your lights, you should have between 4 and 12 inches from the light to the top of the plant

Now remember, top of the plant is not the leaf. It's right here

That's out of the video. But because this part is going to be almost touching the light

So make sure that your, this isn't an orchid, but imagine if it was

So if your orchid is here, you're going to install your lamp

So it's four to 12 inches from that light. If your plant shelf is extremely wide, wider than 22 inches, then that light is not going to cover the front of the shelf

It's going to taper off. The strongest light is right directly underneath it and then it gets less as it moves out

So if you have high light orchids, put them right on the middle of your shelf and move the lower light

orchids out to the front or to the back of your shelf

The one trick with using fluorescent lights is you'll have to mix and match the red and the blue

the warm and the cool lights You can find those in stores and it will tell you on there which is the red and which is the blue So every once in a while trade those out to get a good balance for your orchids And if your orchids are in bloom

remember, just keep with the ones that are red and the blue and which ones go with which

But don't take all the red away. Always keep both on there and just switch them out regularly

Go with a normal fluorescent light, which is 45 to 60 watts

If you have a small collection of orchids, that's, you know, 5, 10

If you have more than that, go with 250 watts. The problem with CFL compact fluorescent lights is that you'll need to mix and match the red and the blue, which I said before

The other problem is the cost of these. these. At first we think, wow, two lights. That can't cost as much. You'll be trading them out every

1.8 years. So this cost can be a little higher. Maintenance, there's not that much. You do need to

wipe the bulbs down every once in a while and lots of people forget to do that because if there's

dust on them, they won't be giving off the right amount of light. And remember, the compact fluorescent

lights will not give all the lighting that your orchid needs. High intensity

discharge lights or HID. There are three types of HID light bulbs and they are mercury vapor

high pressure sodium and metal halide. Now the problem with, and I'm going to jump straight into

the problem because I don't want to talk a lot about a light that isn't going to benefit your orchid

The problem with these is the heat. The HID lights will produce tons of heat and they will sunburn

your orchids and will cause heat damage to your leaf. They also raise your energy bill. If you really

really want to use an H-I-D light, then you'll pick one that is 250 watts and keep it about a foot

above your orchid. If it's still too strong, move it to three, two feet or three feet. With the

400-watt bulb, you can keep it almost at the ceiling and you can cover a good portion

of your orchids with that. And the problem again with these, you'll have to change them out every two years

The orchids that will prefer in HID are the highlight orchids because they also tend, be careful with this

don't quote me, because lots of people will say, oh, you said this and then it's listen to what I'm gonna say first

Most all orchids, most all orchids, when they're high temperatures or also high temperatures

high light so they'll like that extra heat they'll like the higher temperature that these bulbs will

produce do your research do not get a high light orchid thinking it is also high temperature

because sometimes they're not so most all are got me and the fourth option for lighting are

leads which i love leads provide the full light spectrum and they're not

purple and they won't raise your energy bill and they do not heat up so it's just you know like they

finally made a light that is perfect for orchids that is the lead light full spectrum do not buy a lead

light that is not full spectrum how long do lead lights last more than a decade so this light i have up here

i don't have to change that for another 10 years so that is why it is so cost effective you mean you you you

purchase it once and you're home free. It is a little expensive in the beginning. But add all up those, you know, add two fluorescent light bulbs every year, you know, or add an incandescent light every five months. That's more expensive. Trust me

If you do want to know what light I used on this setup, you can go to my web page at Orchidaria and I explain a little bit and can point you to

where I bought it. I was completely satisfied with mine and I did get it at a discount. So it's really good

If this video answered any of your questions or provided some kind of value to you

please hit that like button. That means a lot to me. It means a lot so I can know that this video

is the kind that you would like to see more of. And leave a comment so that we can interact and

I can answer some of the questions you have. Or if you just want to say hi

It really means a lot because these videos do take a long time to make

But don't stop your orchid care here. I can suggest two more videos that will really enhance your knowledge about heating and lighting and everything that's related

And the first one is about heating pads. And you can watch that video right here

And during winter, we need to supplement the heat inside our homes

in a heating pad is a good idea. The second one down here talks about temperatures and what is the

right temperature for each orchid. So I thank you so much for watching this video and happy cultivating