Hello everyone,
I am new to this forum so please pardon my "newbieness" if I am posting this in the wrong area or format. My partner bought me a phalaenopsis for Christmas 2005 and I got hooked to orchids immediately. I now have brassias, lynligh koopowitz slipper, cattleyas, 1 phrag, and a couple of others. I know what you must be thinking....this guy jumped in head first. Luckily my orchids are doing quite well. After several hours of research and with the fact i live in a condo I recently pruchased a HO flourescent lighting sytem which is scheduled for delivery today. What are your thoughts on this type lighting? The unit comes with 2 grow bulbs and 2 flowering bulbs and it is 4 ft long. The rated lumens is 5000 per bulb. i know more than likely phalaenopsis and lady slippers will grow and bloom well with this lighting but how about other types of orchids. Your thoughts, comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Did I mention that i am crazy about orchids?

I don't know anything about growing with lights, but I wanted to say welcome to the forum! Don't ever worry about asking a question, somebody here will know the answer. Just be careful, there are alot of enablers here. Before you know it you will have an entire room dedicated to orchids.

Personally for me, I tried fluorescent lights many years ago and I hated them, so I switched to HPS and the results were just amazing and almost instantaneous. I grow indoors with no natural light. Your conditions may differ from mine and if you are providing natural sunlight in addition to fluorescents, then that may work and you may have to experiment that on your own. Not all slippers like fluorescents, most multiflorals prefer very high light for growing and blooming to their full potential. Hope this helps and welcome to the SOF !:D

I grew with flouros for two years. They should be effective as growers. I now use a 400 watt MH. I didn't use the HO, the center of the tubes will be brighter than the edges, your Catt, brassia and phrag will need the most light. I would start the lights a decent length from the plants and gradually lower the lights until you see a yellowing of the leaves caused by light intensity. Welcome to the place for people like us!