Several weeks ago, I wrote in that I had probably bought too much light with the 600 ballast and 650k bulb. That turned out to be true and I have returned them for a 430 sunagro bulb and 400 ballast. Now I have it set up and find , with my new light meter , measuring in LUX, with the plants 3'8" from light, a reading of about 1500 Lux which I am almost sure is 1,500 foot-candles . I have the phrags and the Harold Kooperwitz up on a box giving them a little more but I was surprised that even held very close to the lightbulb, I could not get past a 2000 LUX reading . How does this all sound? .?I was happy to find that both the humidity and temperature don't seem to be a problem. I still have the option of lowering the light if necessary .
Also even though I have posted several times, I have forgotten to introduce myself earlier. I am new to orchids but not to growing things which I have been doing all my life. Thank You, Laura Saunders

Hi Laura,

I'm glad your log in issue has been solved! I also have a 430 W HPS SonAgro and depending on the height of the plants it is at about 3-4 feet above the plants for many years and they are doing great. I have never used any light meter, I just don't trust those gadgets. The Paphs and Phrags that require high light like the multiflorals are closer to the light. Hope this helps!

:hi: Laura...welcome to the forum. :welcome:

Laura

Lux are about 10X footcandles. So if you are reading 1500 lux that should be 150 fc.

With standard flourescents you can get about 1500 fc right up next to the bulb.

I think something may be up with your meter, or you are actually reading fc instead of lux.

With HPS or metal halide bulbs I would expect 3000 to 4000 fc right up near the bulbs, but there will be lots of heat and could burn the photo cell of your meter.

All that being said, the lighting system you described sounds like it ought to do the job.

Welcome, Laura.

My Luxmeter has 3 scales so i would check to se what the scale is set to.
On the highest setting the readings have to be multiplied by 100 to get the correct reading.My Ascocenda hangs about 18" below my 400w HPS setup & my meter reads about 500(highest setting) which i muliply by 100 to get 50,000 lux which is about 5000 fc.

The light meter was confusing me. I must have taken 5 million light readings in the last days but I've got it now. Without the slipper orchid forum, I would have been lost, as it is , I haven't made a fatal error yet. Now, I must look into humidity which I thought was O>K> but after a few days iunder the light is a little too low. Will a room humidifier that is said to take humidity up to 50% work. The humidity is already 50% and I like to raise it just a little? Thanks Again Laura

Hi Laura,

I don't use any room humidifier but all my plants are sitting on large plastic trays to hold excessive water which helps keep the humidity up around 50 to 60% and my plants are all happy, so no complaints from them. :D

Hi Laura... Has anyone talked to you about light duration?
I grow a wide range of orchids and have found this schedule works well... If anyone has more information, I would like to have it also.

The following is my schedule:

Jan. 12 hours
Feb. 13
March 14
April 15
May 16
June 16
July 16
Aug 16
Sept. 15
Oct. 14
Nov. 13
Dec. 12

Happy Growing... Hope This Helps.. Jim

I grow all my plants under a 12 duration year round and they flower and grow real fast.

Paphman910

I too grow year round with a twelve hour day and night. Have had no problems, just lots of flowers and an even electric bill.

I grow with 13 hrs a day under HPS, used to decrease the amount of light for 2 months in the winter, not anymore, just a constant 13 hrs a day and plants are all growing and blooming very nicely.

My plants are two feet below the lights. My light at that distance probably get about 1000 foot candles or less because light levels decreases exponentially. For instance at the bulb the light level is 5000 foot candle. Then at one feet away from the light you get 2500 foot candle. At 2 feet you get 1250 foot candles.

Paphman910