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How to do the impossible
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Posted by downtowner NY (My Page) on Fri, Nov 9, 07 at 15:32
| I am putting a tropical plant garden in our new spa bathroom.
As you can see from the floor plan, the garden is part of a lovely open space, not a basement or a greenhouse. The window by the garden faces west and only gets reflected light, so it is not a factor for getting enough light. The garden is about 31x54." The ceiling is about 9' above the garden.
How do I install HID lights so that they are both adequate to grow the garden, including some orchids, yet don't look so hideous they take away from the lovely minimalist appearance of the room?
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: How to do the impossible
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| This is the kind of garden we are hoping to have: |
Here is a link that might be useful: model for our garden
RE: How to do the impossible
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| Your choice of plants may be critical. Trying to keep high light (full sun) happy will require such intense lighting (probably 30W+ per square foot) that you may find it uncomfortable to be in the room. Heat may be a problem. Luckily there are many tropicals which grow well in very low light conditions (some even below 100 foot-candles, but many below 500fc, less than 10W/square foot). Your reflected light may or may not be enough, some light level readings would give you an idea. If you need to supplement the light, suitable conditions for low light plants can be created with easy to diffuse sources such as fluorescents. On a personal level, you might want to evaluate the light quality of your light source. Many fluorescent and HID light sources give a harsh light which I don't think would be in keeping with the atmosphere you are looking for. Fluorescents, and to some extent now metal halides, are available in a wider range of colour temperatures and quality of spectrum. At a cost :) |
RE: How to do the impossible
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Your problem is finding good looking fixtures which will work with your asthetics.
In addition to color of light (color temperature), right intensity (FC), you may also need a highly focused light source which will only illuminate your plant area. You may be able to find some reccess mounted ceiling MH fixtures about 75w to 175w which use regular base bulbs. dcarch |
RE: How to do the impossible
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| The HID lighting will necessarily be harsh, since it needs to be bright enough to substitute for sunlight and will come from bare bulbs. Fluorescents are of no value for growing unless they are within a few inches from the plants. Can you make do with low-light plants? There are plenty, you'll save lots on electricity and will avoid other problems (excess heat, high temperatures near the ceiling, dry conditions that stress plants and attract spider mites, etc.) that go with indoor growing. |
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