So happy to see this video. I own a grow tent and LED light. I've used it in the past to grow hydroponic herbs. Bot now I can use it for orchids. Thank you!
What a perfect setup to test a grow light. Nice find haha. And I'm very interested in your transitional process of getting your plants acclimated to being out of the propagation boxes.
This is my second batch of ghost orchid seedlings from a native plant. My first batch of seeds was not good and my second batch was not much better but there were way more seeds in the second capsule. I found out that the variability in vigor of the seedlings was very high - even in the lab, some of the seedlings were really poor performers. I found that, if I focused on the really vigorously growing seedlings (like in other orchids), I could recover seedlings that grew rapidly and I anticipate high survival rates. A colleague at the University of Florida was successful with the flasking, deflasking and recovery of these rare orchids and I mostly do use the general approach that he shared with me. That includes deflasking onto burlap. These seedlings are destined to return to the habitat where the parent plant lived, which may be tough.
Those were ghost orchids. I have used burlap as a deflasking medium for a few different orchids. It works really well for Phals and ghost orchids and not as well for Dens and Cattleyas.
How many Watts does it use? I am such a fan of LED technology! Yet, for my personal needs I realize it is nonsensical to spend any amount of electric energy when I go out and get scorched by the sunlight, for free and off the grid. I grow them right from seed under sun light, but I don't need high levels of control; I am doing no science, just growing a few hundred plants! The advantage is that the little plants come out of the jar pretty much pre acclimated. The disadvantage is that they really do slow down in winter, some slow down a lot! And there's not much science or sales business that can be done with so little control.
It is listed as 100W - maybe with an output similar to 1000W? - that is what the literature suggests. The actual output in microEinsteins is reported to be 577 at one foot from the light - my plants are a little over a foot but not quite 2. I think sunlight is 1500-2000 microEinsteins. I have not yet measure the light output but a colleague is bringing in a light meter so we will see. I think that this intensity is OK - Cattleyas can take 1/2 of sunlight but I want to start out lower on my seedlings. I set this up and put plants under the lights the same day - maybe not the smartest thing to do but we will see. I am worried a little about the high intensity and overheating - will know within a week.
Really enjoying your recent seedling and informational content!!
Thanks for the positive comment. Yeah - I am figuring things out and learning as I go, just like in my former life!!
So happy to see this video. I own a grow tent and LED light. I've used it in the past to grow hydroponic herbs. Bot now I can use it for orchids. Thank you!
I hope so - I only put my first orchids in there last week - it looks like it will work but we will see....
What a perfect setup to test a grow light. Nice find haha. And I'm very interested in your transitional process of getting your plants acclimated to being out of the propagation boxes.
Even though I just set this up recently, I am fairly confident that this approach will be successful. I may have to tweak things along the way....
Super cool!
Thanks for the comment - I think so too!!
Wow! You went for the Dendrophylax lindenii? Interested in your progress with them as well
Not an easy orchid from what I understand
This is my second batch of ghost orchid seedlings from a native plant. My first batch of seeds was not good and my second batch was not much better but there were way more seeds in the second capsule. I found out that the variability in vigor of the seedlings was very high - even in the lab, some of the seedlings were really poor performers. I found that, if I focused on the really vigorously growing seedlings (like in other orchids), I could recover seedlings that grew rapidly and I anticipate high survival rates. A colleague at the University of Florida was successful with the flasking, deflasking and recovery of these rare orchids and I mostly do use the general approach that he shared with me. That includes deflasking onto burlap. These seedlings are destined to return to the habitat where the parent plant lived, which may be tough.
What were those burlap babies?
Those were ghost orchids. I have used burlap as a deflasking medium for a few different orchids. It works really well for Phals and ghost orchids and not as well for Dens and Cattleyas.
🧋🧧🥂🎁🧁
How many Watts does it use? I am such a fan of LED technology! Yet, for my personal needs I realize it is nonsensical to spend any amount of electric energy when I go out and get scorched by the sunlight, for free and off the grid. I grow them right from seed under sun light, but I don't need high levels of control; I am doing no science, just growing a few hundred plants! The advantage is that the little plants come out of the jar pretty much pre acclimated. The disadvantage is that they really do slow down in winter, some slow down a lot! And there's not much science or sales business that can be done with so little control.
It is listed as 100W - maybe with an output similar to 1000W? - that is what the literature suggests. The actual output in microEinsteins is reported to be 577 at one foot from the light - my plants are a little over a foot but not quite 2. I think sunlight is 1500-2000 microEinsteins. I have not yet measure the light output but a colleague is bringing in a light meter so we will see. I think that this intensity is OK - Cattleyas can take 1/2 of sunlight but I want to start out lower on my seedlings. I set this up and put plants under the lights the same day - maybe not the smartest thing to do but we will see. I am worried a little about the high intensity and overheating - will know within a week.
@@plantpropagator that much light for 100W is the beauty of LEDs! Thanks for the information!
@@plantpropagator "microEinsteins"