Hello all, I have had my scarlet for a week now and have started to wonder if I am going to get a spike from it this year. Paramount Orchid sold it has a blooming size, but I am unsure if I have it in too little light (about 7 inches from an east /north/east window or maybe my living room is too warm (so tonight I opened the window slightly. the orchids shouldn't get a nasty cold blast. Other than that, I will have to break down & get a grow light set up.


Question is, the growing area will be in my living room so do the lights emit a noise or a hum? (I was thinking of flouresent sounds. ) I don't know alot about lighting; I have just started to seriously read up on this. Does anyone grow in their living room or where they spend alot of time?

Can you think of a real drawback to having a grow area in their living room? I had always intended to keep a pretty small collection.

thanks - m

no hums. I have four sets of cheap shop lights and no hums

no drawbacks... all my collection is in my bedroom :p usually hidden, unless in bloom. only hidden for interior decor reasons or I wouldn't care, and to create an area with higher humidity... plus I have a small bonsai collection arranged with my in bloom plants, so it's great
Then the rest of the house is filled with my moms orchids, all possible growing areas. Ok the only draw back is that my windows are all cluttered with mom's old phals;) They really are too cluttered, from years of shopping...my window with the display looks better than the windows of the rest of the house, there are ways to keep windows looking good

Hi guys, thanks for the feedback. I have been doing a little reading about the different lighting possibilities. Evidently I could use halogen (this would be good because I could get a halogen lamp that hopefully would be fairly inconspicuous), or HID lights evidently you can get bulbs that screw into lamps so maybe this might work. anyone tried either of these? I really need to try to make the set up as clean & attractive as possible because it will be in my livingroom.

Regards - Mary

ps in an apartment, how do you make the night temp drop a bit? I have been leaving the living room window open a little hoping this might work. Smartie2000, how do you enclose your collection in your room? I was considering doing something like this if my livingroom attempts don't work. If I grow in my bedroom the plants will be 100% dependent on the lights, but on the otherhand, the plants would be in the same room as the humidifyer. I have a small bureau that I could put everything on top and suspend the lights over the whole thing. My collection is small enough that I can carry the plants to the kitchen sink this is good in that I tend to really give the plants a visual "once over" for any signs of the nastys. Other question is if a leaf has a slight "depression" that I didn't notice before, could that be a sign of the need for increased humidity or should I be watering more. Now I have been watering the paphs twice a week.

The florescents that I have are non buzzing. I would like to upgrade to a dual MH/HPS system for my greenhouse.

I have tried floresent lights and they were pretty quiet but so darn ugly...you can crack open a window at night to drop the temperature and turn down the thermostat.

My collection outgrew my windowsill in my room, so I put them all in the closet with two shop lights. Plants on the ground and on the shelf, clothes in the middle. The humidity is higher in there too because of the humidifier. It works perfectly. No one sees the not in bloom plants...(except for those curious individuals like my cousin that must open my closet to see why there is a glow!)

I also keep the door to my room closed as well so the humidity is higher in my room. The interesting thing is that I didn't get a cold this year yet and usually I get sick every year. I wonder if it's the humidity.

Night temps drops because my thermostat is turned down, and the large inefficient windows loose heat because of the winter so my room is naturally cooler at night.

Hi guys, just how many degrees lower do the plants need to initiate the blooming sequence? Could I put my plants on my balcony out of the sun in the late afternoon or early evening during the summer to get them going?

regards

That will work,
Remember that the growth has to be mature before blooming. I find that there hasn't been a need for me to stress the plants into budding, they will bloom on their own when it is time. Only the most difficult plants such as paph armeniacum may need it.
Phrags are not fussy as about temperature differentiation for bud initiation.

Hi there, I have just recently switched to an HPS system and I also live in an apartment. The HPS light generates heat while it's on, so the night temp drop happens when the light turns off. I usually leave the patio door open, though, and run a fan in front of the door moving the cool air throughout the house. I actually took over the linen closet for my plants :p. As for flouros though I don't think they generate much heat, but most plants don't need much of a night temp drop for spiking, as stated earlier, plants will spike when they are ready if they are not "shocked" into blooming. I used to grow near a windowsill where the temps didn't drop much (6-8 Degrees F) and my phrags and phals didn't really mind. Keep us updated on what you decide!

Hi guys, just how many degrees lower do the plants need to initiate the blooming sequence? Could I put my plants on my balcony out of the sun in the late afternoon or early evening during the summer to get them going?

regards

Yes, your plants will enjoy all the bright light, summer conditions on your balcony and they will actually grow much faster.