Help growing orchids from seed under lights

18 years ago

I'm currently growing orchids from seed in sterile flasks under fluorescent lights. The lights have a photoperiod of 16 hours and are 18 inches above the top of the flasks.

However, growth is extremely slow and I don't think that it is the nutrient mix in the flasks or ambient temperatures. I think the problem is that the fluorescent tubes don't produce enough light.

If money were not a major consideration and I wanted to get faster growth from my orchid seedlings what kind of articial lights would the experts in this forum recommend?

Any suggestions at all would be appreciated.

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Comments (3)

Spite_Spike
Original Author
18 years ago
I forgot to mention that this is a commercial setup. There are five levels of shelving from floor to ceiling and hundreds of flasks. The walls are painted white to increase indirect light reflection.
eyen
18 years ago
what's the temp like? i don't know much, but i do know that seedlings are definitely more fussy with low temps than larger plants. also, 18 inches is kinda too high. are they t12's or t8's? overdriven? i use t8's, normal and overdriven. depending on which orchids you have, i would at least lower those fl lights to under a foot from the top of the leaves of the seedlings, and that would be pretty close to the level of the agar for flasked seedlings. for phalaenopsis, try to keep the light readings to between 800-1500 fc. for catt's and onc's keep the fc higher, probably about 1500-2000fc. i might even recommend more intense lighting--mh, etc.

by the way, your questions will probably get more responses in the orchid forum.

Edward
shrubs_n_bulbs
18 years ago
I agree. I think you could get a recommendation here on which lamps to use to get a particular type of light, but I for one don't know anything about raising Orchids :)