Don't know squat about the lights. Are you in Portland, OR or Maine?

Barbara

I have a copule of AVs at home under a 10 Watt (equivalent 40 W) compact fluorescent in a desk lamp. I'm not sure if nothing's growing much because the light is too low or because the house is cold.

Speaking of weather (werent'we? ;->), last Friday our high was 63 (as usual); Saturday it was **81** (!). Farenheit, of course. It *never* gets that hot here. It was like walking into a stuffy car that'd been sitting in a hot sun. The temps have been working their way down since; today we're supposed to get to 67. It's foggy right now, at 9:38 a.m. and pretty chilly. The whole time it's been getting down to the low 40s at night. I'm so *confused*!

And that's why you dress in layers in Humboldt county. 'Cause if you don't like the weather, wait a minute. Literally.

Korina

'Remember, no matter where you go...there you are.' ~Buckaroo Banzai

FloraB -

to start with - shoplight is much cheaper. And it gives enough light for the whole shelf - instead of the spot place. And 10 W equvalent to 40W incandescent - it is too low.

I read the recommendations for the Orchid setup with 2 shoplights plus a CFL 100W (actual 100W, not an equvalent) but this kind of CFL costs about $65. And it is big and ugly.

irina

But Irina, the next step up 60 W equivalant seems like it would be too bright. Is 40 W really too low for a couple of young standards clustered about the base?

Korina

Korina -

the only way to know is to stick a light meter to the bulb and see what it shows, how close you need to keep them etc. If it gives us 800 candles per foot - we will use it.

I think I have this thing sitting in my kitchen ceiling light. So - i need to remove the cover, stick the light meter and try not to fall of the chair with the rollers. Lets say I will get to it this weekend. If you wouldn't hear from me on Monday - presume me missing in action.

cheers

Irina

"I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father."
Greg Norman, Pro Golfer

I'm in Portland, OR.

I had a whole setup w/shoplites when I lived in Houston. My concern now is space, since I'm currently subletting a room in a house. I just ordered half a dozen standards, so I'll *need* more space--somehow-- but I guess I was thinking about getting taller shelves to accomodate the growing room?

Get the landlord 'hooked' so you can have extra space? Maybe not a good idea, if it backfires you'll get evicted and they'll use your space for 'their' violets....

Too bad you aren't in the other Portland, I need a violet buddy here in town.

Barbara

I am sure anything other than flourescents will be major overkill. AV's really resent too much light. I put up 1, T-8 fixture (4' with 2 bulbs) and have a light meter. With that I had to put them about 12" above the AV's. I bought another fixture thinking 4 bulbs would be better and it was way too much. I had to take one down.

Hi, I'm in the Seattle area so we share the same winter gloom. I've had great luck using compact fluorescent desk lamps. Home Depot sells them for about twenty dollars. They're the adjustable twenty-seven watt bulb models. I have three placed about a foot apart and fourteen inches above the plants. I keep them on for twelve hours a day. The AV's and Moth Orchids are thriving.
Paul

Hello Paul and the ladies,

Last weekend in our club we tried to measure the light output from the CFLs with a light meter. 10 watt - is way too low, 27 watt - you get to the point of 500 footcandles if your leaves are 6" below the single 27 watt CFL.

Looks like Paul's results are OK - 3 of them together will create enough light on a lower side of AV requirements. Phalenopsis needs 800 footcandles - so about twice more. So it will live and grow but the amount of blooms will be less than possible with more light.

I think it will be to the advantage to use CFLs as complimentary to the insufficient natural light - in winter for example. If you grow your violets in a very dark corner or basement - shoplights are more economical. The 24" fixture is more expensive than the 4' shoplight - but it fits better to odd shelves - and you can buy plant and aquarium bulbs for it - then your violets will really look gorgeous.
(I guess they grow OK under cool/warm combination - but plant lights show them better.)

Good Luck

Irina

Any true gardener worthy of a grain of salt would have known Maine is not zone 8!!! I here Humboldt Cty is good for growing other stuff too!

The CF's are for people that what to concentrate large ammounts of light in a small space. Reef aquariums and planted tanks. AV growers want maxium space with lower light levels. I hear the VHO lights give off quite a it of heat.

You can always build your own light system out of individual componets offered at HD or any lighting center. It costs more. I once had a ten allon planted tank that I built the lights for.

I don't have an AV yet but am thinking of getting one (probably in spring next year). I'm quite keen on the CF idea, because I've been using them for years to turn 60-watt lamps into full-room-lighting (using the highest wattage I could find, which is always still under sixty). I recently got one of those five-head gooseneck lamps for the bedroom and filled it with "daylight extra" 13-watt 800 lumen CFs, for me (I was so sick of yellow light!). If I get the plant, should I replace a couple of those with a "cool" and a "warm"? The "daylight" is 3500K. What color temperature would I be trying to get? It didn't look like there were a whole lot of options. I think, in fact, that there were three... but one could perhaps vary the wattage of the different colors if needed?
Wow, can you tell that when I had optics it was just sort of a throw-away bit at the end of modern physics, and we were all slacking off at the end of the semester? =P

- Lali

Erlybrd, I assume your comment about Maine and zone 8 is directed at me, so I will respond. I am too well aware that Maine is not zone 8, however, I have seen so many typos in the zone option, or people simply not knowing what their zone is, that I exercised my right to ask.

LOL, not.

Barbara, zone 4, sometimes 3, would love a 5

Lali -

in my case it was in a high school. Loooong ago.

I am kind of surprised why is such an interest in CFLs. You basically can have it servicing 1 (one) violet. And usually the amount of violets never stops on one. You have this one blooming - and off you go - in several months you have a couple of dozen. At least.

While if you get a shoplight - 4 feet - you can have 16 biggies, or more minis and semiminis. If you have limited space - you can get a couple of 2 foot lightsticks, mount them above the shelf and have a very attractive small arrangement where you can have several violets and low light requirement green plants.

And do not wait till spring. These plants bloom 10 months out of 12 with good care - don't you want to have flowers in winter?

Good Luck

I.

Florabundant is Zone 8 Houston in her My Page. She also recently just moved, maybe her zone has changed and not been updated? Barbara, I think you're worth a little more than a grain of salt :) Christy

Well, I got the CFs for me, because I like the light and they'll last me forever. But I then thought they might be great for supporting a plant, too! I'm currently in an apartment with limited space and limited ability to mount anything. I really do plan on just one AV, at least for now. I realize it may change my mind, but so far I've been acquiring in the "one of everything" vein rather than two of anything, so we'll see. And I can eat just one Lay's potato chip, so that's a start!
I'm waiting until spring because a. I'll probably end up ordering it from somewhere that isn't having weather in the 70s right now and b. I'm trying to take it one plant at a time for now, so I want to wait until my poncirus seedlings are a little bit taller. =)

- Lali

Barbara, Tone is hard to capture with words. For me anyway. Hope you did'nt take that too harshly. You're suffering from zone envy! Zone 4/3 would be hard to take, being a 5er sucks too! Perhaps in our after life we'll both be a 6/7 at least!

Erlybird,

I have a terrible case of zone envy. I went from Seattle to Sacramento (zone ugly) to Maine. I saw asparagus ferns growing outside in Sacramento, Martha Washington geraniums 3 feet high in San Luis Obispo. But with that heat, you sure do get the ugly bugs, black widow and recluse spiders, buzzworms (rattlesnakes), scorpions. I did absolutely no outside gardening in Sacramento (we were actually in a rural area about 20 miles east). That is one of the reasons I love it here in Maine. There isn't a place in my yard that I wouldn't close my eyes and stick my hand, and I couldn't have said that about Sacramento. They can have their zones, I'll make do with my 4. At least av's don't give a rip about how hot it is outside.

Thanks for the response, Rik.

Barbara

Sorry to dredge up an old thread, but anyone have any updates on using CF lights?

I have a gorgeous lamp that I love on the table where my AVs are and I happen to have a CF light in there. Lately I've taken to leaving the light on while I'm at work, and the AVs seem to be liking it a lot. The lamp is such that all the AVs on the table get hit by the additional light. I think.

I'm bumping this up. I'm hoping the posters above who were using the CFL's are still around & will update me on how their plant(s) are doing.

Irina, you said you were surprised that there is such an interest in CFL's and that we can only grow one plant with them. That's the whole point! lol

I have my setup of the other AV's in another room, but I think many of us would like just one plant on a table in other rooms because we love the plants and want to see them all the time. It's not only a growing thing, it's also decorative.

I have many regular houseplants, cactis and succulents, I grow them not only because I enjoy it, but I also use them to help decorate my home. AF's are too pretty to "hide."

Now I'm thinking about buying two inexpensive, matching table lamps for my table. Those, a doily and a plant would be pretty. :)

Pam -

violet and doilies... I am betting after your 3rd light stand you will forget about doilies ;-))

I.

LOL, Irina! I love doilies. People call it "granny decorating", but I don't care! I could have a hundred stands and I'll still put a violet somewhere on a doilie!

I am all for it!

Grannies were good in making a house feel like home and smell like cookies ;-)) . That's a pity a woman feels more like a workhorse now days... no desire left for this special touch...

Irina

Oooo, I'm interested in how the CFL experiments turned out, especially since my grannies would love to have one of my violets in their rooms. On a doily, of course :)

I guess you can say that I'm a 21 year old granny type... since there are doilies everywhere and I'm always baking cookies! (it does help that my gram and great gram live with me, I can blame it on them!)