Hi and welcome to GardenWeb! Well, I only use artificial lighting for growing annuls (and a few perennials) from seeds each year. Once the weather's right, outside they go and the lights are no longer used. For that reason, I can't be of much help with the type of growing you'll be doing. I do have a light meter that I really like, it's a "DrMeter" - LX1330B. It measures in Lux or FC in selective ranges. As for as it's accuracy, I would think that it's fairly accurate but of course I really don't have anything to compare it to. The meter itself is protected by a removable plastic case and it comes in a nice storage case as well. It cost only $40 and for that money I think it would be hard to beat. I got mine through Amazon.com Regarding your orchids, there's an older post on GardenWeb that you might find helpful Click Here Art This post was edited by art33 on Sat, Apr 6, 13 at 17:00

Am starting to bring things in for winter. Interested in bulbs or tubers not rooted perennials. Have for trade: 50+ small ornithogalum saudersaie bulbs. (South African) My favorite plant! Probably need another year before they bloom. 50+ baby yellow calla lily bulbs. These are the ones with the large yellow flowers and the spotted leaves. Will need a few years to bloom. 22 assort size aztec lily, sprekelia, bulbs. Some mature and their offsets. I love the sparkles in the blooms- maybe this one's my favorite! 4 rain lily and their smaller offsets. Amorphophallus konjac. Various sizes. grape size, fist size and on up. Canna: 'phaison',' pretoria', and 'louis cottin' and no name ones with salmon blooms, and orange blooms. No sase requests please. And you send first. It wouldn't hurt to put my name in the subject line of your response,,, I get so much mail- thx:) Karen

Hi, Judging by your name, you probably like flowers in the apricot-organge-yellow category. Sounds like you selected a nice assortment to get started. Thanks for the question and Aegis, thanks for the terrific link. I scrolled through the messages and saw the secondary link with a lengthy list of yellows. I will print that out for reference. A senior (in experience) member of my local AV has been growing out various yellows and double whites. I have also tried a few. What we have found so far is that Lyon's seems to have the fastest growing plants, so the wait time seems to be shorter to see results. I just acquired Mellow Yellow by Lyon's today. It gives an overall impression of light yellow. The triple bloom is fluffy like a miniature tea rose. Mellow Yellow has clear ivory petals with light lemon yellow center stripes, deep yellow stamens, and light green leaves with undersides a brighter green. In my experience, two other Lyon's, Warm Sunshine and Sunkissed Rose, tend to be more white with tinges of pink or lavender under my growing conditions of natural bright light. Under my friend's conditions of carefully controlled fluorescent light, the colors tend to be more ivory shading to yellow. As for the Ma's (Ching Dynasty and others,) the growing out period is longer, with not as many blooms the first time, so not enough experience to comment. Marigold, as far as the color Orange goes, I have heard that 'Ness Orange Pekoe is probably close to orange. I have not grown it, so this is not from personal experience. It is an AV that people like a lot. (Another that is coral or brownish is called Rob's Sarsaparilla, I believe. Some people like it, some don't. There is another Sarsaparilla by another hybridizer that is a different color, so if you look for it, look for Rob's.) Optmara recently came out with a pale yellow they believe is stable enough in the color over several bloom cycles to register. The color was a spontaneous sport of a completely different color combination, not something they deliberately tried to develop. It can be viewed on their website under one or more of the violet identification categories and can be ordered. It is available only in leaves that are expensive because it is new, rare, and has limited availability. We've had discussions on the Forum in the past about yellow. It is not a natural color for violets, which in nature are blue-pruple-violet. Pink was a breakthrough. The reds are more pinkish red than true red. Lately we are seeing some greens. White is less stable because is it he absence of pigment, so the parent genetics of lavender and blues often break through. You might enjoy subscribing to the AV magazine, or possibly joining a club when the time is right. They often have back issues of the magazine, so you can read about violets and genetics in articles by Jeff Smith or Joyce and Kent Stork or Dr Rob. Joanne

It is a pretty flower, thanks for showing. I dislike the Ma's andRob's names for their plants. I dislike the idea of violence associated with plants.They seem to have a very juvenile sense of humor. Too bad, because they seem to be pretty good hybridizers. So for reds, I look to the Mac's series or the Lyon's and leave the Rob's and Ma's for the specialists. Just my 25 cents.