Not wild... but would like your thoughts...

[Joe662]

Hiya, sorry was unsure where to post this. I've just moved into a new house (shared) and my room is really dark, once 3 o'clock comes the light needs to be on!! I have a couple of orchids, phals, and was wondering what your thoughts are on them photosynthesising using light from the bulb? Would this make up for the lacking sunlight or will they now surely perish

[Farplace]

I don't know but I will see what I can find out for you.

[Charty]

Originally Posted by Joe662

Hiya, sorry was unsure where to post this. I've just moved into a new house (shared) and my room is really dark, once 3 o'clock comes the light needs to be on!! I have a couple of orchids, phals, and was wondering what your thoughts are on them photosynthesising using light from the bulb? Would this make up for the lacking sunlight or will they now surely perish

Plants cannot photosynthesise artifical light, I have orchids and they are ok in limited daylight.
Caroline

[John_M]

Originally Posted by Charty

Plants cannot photosynthesise artifical light, I have orchids and they are ok in limited daylight.
Caroline

It depends on the spectrum of the light, but plants most certainly can photosynthesise using artificial light.

[Dorts]

Joe,
If you have no other option for the placing of these orchids nearer some daylight, you can use 'Grow-lux' type bulbs. These are the bulbs used in fish-tanks to allow the aquarium plants to grow and also in industrial greenhouses, and would work fine for indoor orchids.
Dorts.

[Farplace]

Dorts has just beaten me with this one. I was going to recommend Grow-lux lighting. Not very expensive and works well.

[Cotham Marble]

Originally Posted by Farplace

Dorts has just beaten me with this one. I was going to recommend Grow-lux lighting. Not very expensive and works well.

There remains the question of how long the light must be on for each day to stop the plant from 'shutting down'. I think even with species happy with limited light, such as orchids, that a minimum of five hours per day of Grow-lux is required just to supplement low light from a small window. This needs to be borne in mind if the room in question is not lit for human use for more than a couple of hours a day.

A further problem is going to be the location of any radiators, which are usually located below windows. Most orchids hate the drying effect of centra heating so location in a small room is an issue. I think I'd aim to place the plants as close to the window as possible, so long as any radiator is not on (and there is no direct sunlight) - but ensure that the plants are moved well away from any radiators when these are in use, and also bring the plants away from the window when the outside temperature gets below 10C, particularly at night if there are curtains/blinds that separate the plants from the room.

I think you may face something of a juggling act and you'll simply have to look for what seems to work. In the end extreme changes of temperature are likely to be more damaging than low light during the winter months when you need to ensure both good moisture because of the drying effect of heating, and avoid the plants getting chilled when the heating is off.

CM

[artdemole]

Do you see the orchids in Garden nurseries.They just use normal shop lighting and do very well.

[Joe662]

Wow thanks for all the great replies interesting indeed. Im going to go and look at these grow-lux lights as they could be an option. Wouldn't be very aesthetically pleasing but I could live with that . Just not sure if I can justify having an extra light running solely for the plants on green grounds.

My window is actually door a so no windowsill for them to sit on hehe. So at min they are sitting on the mantlepiece which is perpendicular to the door. Luckily away from the radiator as they dont need any more problems lol

If they do end up starting to really not thrive that well at all, I'm sure I can find a friend with a sunny windowsill to take them off my hands.

Anyway thanks again for your input

Joe

[Brocakat]

The year-round growing of Chysanthemum plants in the U.K. - or 'Potmums' in the trade - relies on artificial lighting.

And from what we are exposed to on the various " POLICE!CAMERA! ACTION! " programmes, the growing of Cannabis - as well.