I grow Phal. orchids and would like to try some LED lighting for the winnter months. This type of orchid does not need high light , and does best at 800 to 1500 fc. I have seen some set ups that come with red and blue bulbs and some that come with white and red bulbs. I do not know the differance here and could use some help. Also how far above the plants do you place the fixture? I do not need a large fixture because I will start with only a few plants. I found one do it you self kit that was 14w and was good for 1 square foot of growing space. It had the red and blue lights. As you can see I am new to this and any help would be great. Thanks

Dale

Dont waste your money those cheap ones. Your asking for trouble. h

Sage, Have you used one of these bulbs for Orchids? They look very interesting.

Dale

Never have tried LED. Never have grown orchids. I only grow consumable gardens, but photosynthesis is relatively the same for every plant. Plants require 420nm, 440nm, 630nm and 660nm light mainly with some additional blue for veg and additional red/infrared for fruting along with a tiny amount of green. White (yellow, green, orange) light, also known as "warm light" is wasted light for plants. If you can find bulbs that put out these key wavelengths in some amount your orchids would do fine. I would guess that 1watt emitters would be fine for orchids if you had them close to the plants. 2 watt LEDs would put out a little more intensity so you would be able to raise the light up a bit and have more orchids under the one.

Sage, Thanks for the info. I think I was looking at LED's that were to high powered. After your post I found an outlet on the net that sold LED lights for orchids. They have a 4 w light that looks like it will fit the bill. Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction.

Dale