Are the two windows large? I grew in NY in SW windows and a sliding door. My house was on a hillside, quite high up. As a result, the sun setting was not blocked. I had large trees outside the windows which gave some relief in the afternoon.

Very bright area but I still supplemented with CFL's in winter. I grew the high light plants closest to the windows and gradually moved the lower light plants to the back. It worked well. I had to be careful of chills in winter. I moved the warm growers to a smaller room with CFL's.

Jane

Thanks for the reply, Jane. The windows are pretty standard. Please excuse the mess. We are still remodeling.

Thanks for the reply, Jane. The windows are pretty standard. Please excuse the mess. We are still remodeling.

{{!gwi}}

Where are you in the hobby. I remember when I tried to grow everything and failed with plenty but still managed to win the club championship five times, competition not very hot in those days. No OrchidNick types around then and besides I thought the competition was slewed towards species growers. So I changed the rules.
Anyway, it is a bit sad that you didn't get many replies, are you leaning towards being a specialist in a few areas? And, are there some orchids that need such a wide climate change during the year that they should be avoided by indoor growers?

This post was edited by arthurm on Tue, Sep 9, 14 at 21:48

I am no expert and just only an orchid lover for last year or so. But I managed to have few Phals and an Onci, Brassia and a Miltoniopsis rebloomed for me. This is how I had my indoor lighting, right in my living room. I hope that will help you to decide. I live in Canada and my window is west facing. Not much, almost no direct sunlight from Sept. to May.

Tanie

I have been growing for 5-6 years now. This space will be my third indoor growing area. I have gone from leaky window sills in a cozy apartment to a sunny but cold mud room in a rental property to my first space I can modify/customize. Through out this process I have gone from loving every orchid under the sun to maybe half of that. I have been encouraged to specialize in a particular genus by my AOS judging friends but I really like the diversity I can grow. The diversity is part of my draw to orchids. Most of my collection are orchids that appreciate or tolerate warm to intermediate summer temps and intermediate to cool winters. For example, I have several dendrobiums from section dendrobium, Lautoria, and pedilonum which grow and bloom well for me. I have taken a shine to Paphs but I am still working on growing them well. Warm growers like phals are pretty much out because I struggle to meet their heating needs over the winter. However, I do love my heat loving bulbos so I need to figure out an accommodation for them.

I grow most of my collection outside over the summer anf bring them inside in the winter. So in Norteast Ohio orchid winter is from approximately October 1 to May 15.

The best advice on growing and housing your orchids almost always comes from people in your area. They must deal with much the same challenges. If you lived near me I'm sure I could give you ideas. I bet your AOS judging friends being local would have some good ideas.

However with a large enough budget my dream is to have a grow house big enough for a small table and chairs and a chaise lounge so I could entertain, read the paper, have a cocktail or a cup of tea and just relax. Also room for germinating garden veggie seeds.

I do play the lotto....

I have reached out to people closer to me. But I think reaching out past your local crowd can often generate new ideas. Plus, most of the local orchid society members and AOS judges I know have green houses. Other members have smaller growing areas. A couple of people grow in their basements and are using HIDs on a track. I am not interested in HIDs on installing a track in my ceiling. Plus their basement set ups are not aesthetically pleasing to me.

Also, I am not just interested in the basics. I reached out to this group to get some ideas on the design of the set-up, any creative things you are doing in your areas, and general conversation.

Thanks for the responses everyone. If I come up with something creative or fun I will share.

Tanie - Thanks for sharing your photos.

greencurls,

I'm in west central Ohio and have been growing in a spare bedroom (12'x14') with 1 east facing window for @12 years. When I first started, I purchased a 2'x2' 4-tiered cart, planning on starting annuals early with this set-up. Had tried orchids a couple of times before this, but they always died a slow death. Had some extra room on the shelves and saw a nice lipstick phal that I liked and thus started the convergence from annuals to orchids. Next winter the 2'x2' wasn't large enough so I bought a 4'x2' 3-tiered cart that I still use today. In addition to the 3-tiered cart ( I gave the 2'x2' to SIL) I've also set-up some tables. Over these tables I've had everything from 400 watt HID (hot, hot, hot) and 250 watt HPS (hot, hot) and CFL's and LED's. I like the LED's the best, but they are also the most $ initially. About 3 years ago I started moving everything outside in the summer, so I only use the 'orchid room' sparingly in the summer (cool growers in when it is 85+ out), usually 1 tier lit up.

This winter I'll have my 3-tiered 4'x2' light cart (4/40 Watters per tier), a 4'x'3 table with 2 90 watt LED's, a standing rack for my mounties with 2 55Watt long CFLs (aquarium light set-up) over them. I'll also have @12 on a table in front of the east facing window and 2 or 3 in a very bright south bathroom window. I've got a couple of high wattage LED floodlights that I may use over the east window's table using chicken brooder light fixtures (ugly but cheap). I usually have 10 or so blooming orchids at work or throughout the house in the winter also. I 'hope' to be able to house @100 varied orchids (phals, paphs, phrags, mini-vandas, mini-catts, dends, bulbos, toluminias, ...) with this set-up this winter.

In anticipation of dragging them all in over the next 2-6 weeks, I cleaned the orchid room over the Labor Day weekend, great fun cleaning out 12 drip trays with a year's worth of accumulation in the pebbles/hydraton :-), and set it up for the winter.

It's getting close, what's your plan?

BTW: Warn the neighbors or you may get a visit from the local police :-0

Good luck,

Bob

When using a room inside your house, how do you manage the overflow of water and how do you water? Here in the subtropics of Florida I just drag my garden hose and let a gentle rain fall. I have paver bricks for a floor and they are designed to let water perk through.
I know Im spoiled on easy conditions and I contemplate if I would have any orchids if I lived in colder conditions. I appreciate the tenacity and efforts made by my fellow orchid growers in the north.

I have drip trays or saucers under everything, but usually use a 5 gallon bucket and pick up each individual plant, sit it over the bucket and water thoroughly with a watering can. I dunk the mounties.

In the summer I can water with a hose in about 10 minutes, in the winter it is a 60-90 minute ordeal.

Got to be dedicated to grow in Ohio in the winter without a greenhouse.

Bob

This post was edited by westoh on Thu, Sep 11, 14 at 11:53

It is definitely a labor of love to grow orchids in Ohio and the like. But there is plenty of good company up here.

My plan is similar to Bobs. I have three 6'x4' wire shelving units plus CFL grow lights and T5. I am going to add some 90W light and more CFL and 3 more unit. I am putting in a ceiling fan. And the room has a ceiling vent and it is on a separate heating system than the rest of the house. I am hoping to add in a digital/programable thermostat.

Bob - how do you like the LED lights?

I use the inserts made for rubbermaid comtainers as drip trays. I plan on adding spigots to the trays so I can water in place and drain the water. The picture is of a current window set-up in the another room

I do run an oscillating fan in my orchid room on the same schedule as the lights. In my set-up the egg crates are over the tray.

I like LEDs because they last forever, put out a very strong light and don't generate very much heat. If they would come down in price, I'd probably do LED's in everything, even switch the 12-T12 set-up over to a T8 LED type set-up. Right now it would be an @$800 expense to convert. T8 type LEDs run @$50/ea plus the cost to switch3 fixtures from T12 to T8.

In retrospect, I wish I had bought a cart that has 1 tray per tier, but mine has 4 trays per tier. I'd add a spigot to drain the trays if that were the case. I do put prime agra/hydraton in the bottom of my trays and leave at least a little water (1/4-1/2") in them to help with humidity. Once the furnace is running, it can get very dry in my house and every little bit helps.

Here's a shot of the cart and part of one of the tables from last year. I'm not going to use the pink LED this year, too offensive IMO. I've also have to figure out how to squeeze in @20 more and accommodate new growth. I think I'll be giving a few plants away to co-workers this fall.

The cart:
{{gwi:165480}}

Bob

This post was edited by westoh on Fri, Sep 12, 14 at 9:23

Bob - Where do you purchase your LED lights? I have not sure seen the tube LED lights anyway yet. I have heard they perform better than the panels.

I wish they were not so cost prohibitive. They seem like a great alternative.

{{gwi:140254}}

Here is a old photo of my area, the room is empty now but I will start to bring everything back in over the next two weeks. My wife is not a fan of my hobby so I have to keep things as neat as possible. I went with glass shelves and clear saucers because they look neat and because they won't block the light.

I try to stick with intermediate growers but, like you, I also like variety so there are some warm growers and cool growers mixed in. I manage by keeping the cooler types on the floor and the warmer one closer to the ceiling.

I also winter some tropical fruit trees in my basement with LED lights. I have tried CFLs in the past but I find that after a few months they don't put out as much light as when they were new.

greencurls,

I purchase them where I find bargains, when I have the $$$. I found this site this morning, you need to understand the lingo and if you can use drop-ins or have to do a retro-fit. I think most of these will just drop-in to a T8/T5 fixture (don't they use the same pin config?, I'm not sure as I use T12's). Looks like they have lots of options. I always try to find the most lumens for the $, to me more lumens equates to more light. To find more options Google "T5 LED Replacements"

Nice room lumpy_j!

Bob

Here is a link that might be useful: T8/T40 LED Replacements

Awesome room, Lumpy. How do you go about watering? I really like the glass shelves and the statues. Together it was a secret garden feeling to me. I feel like there should be a water feature of some kind in there. Very nice.

Bob - Thanks for the link. I will have to read up on LED jargon and spects.

My fiancee and I are tiling the floor in my soon to be grow room. Once it is set up I will post pics.

More lumens does not necessarily mean more light. Lumens is not a measure of light, it is a measure of the brightness of light as perceived by the human eye. This is important because the human eye perceives the green spectrum more acutely than the others. This means if the manufacturer bumps up the green spectrum relative to the others they get more bang for their buck. This can most easily be seen with cheap compact fluorescent bulbs with low CRIs (Color Rendition Index). Painted surfaces drastically change shade toward the green when the lights come on. Now plants are pretty adaptable wrt spectra so it's probably not a huge deal. Imo what does matter is how the plants look under the lights, no purple grow lights for me. For that the most important number is CRI. Sunlight and incandescents are full spectrum light sources and have CRIs of 100. When I had to light a planted aquarium I used 90+ CRI T5 fluorescents. Everything looks better under full spectrum light.

I looked at the led tube replacements and have to say I was a bit surprised by the CRIs. There is actually one that would be just passable at 90. The economy ones are typical energy efficient crap at 70. They still aren't quite up to snuff for a top notch display but they are getting damn close which is pretty exciting at that price.

T5s, T8s, and T12s all use the same pin spacing and are thus interchangable.

LEDs can last practically forever if you barely drive any current through them. However, in order to get the necessary brightness for task lighting instead of indicator lighting the LEDs are driven much harder than before. As a result they don't last anywhere near forever.

This post was edited by nil13 on Tue, Sep 16, 14 at 20:53

Thanks, it took a few years to figure out the room, where the bright spots are as the seasons change and how the temperature is different in different places. I'm always looking for ways to fit more stuff in the room.

To water, I hold them over a bucket and water with a pump sprayer. I collect the run off and use it on my other plants.

Do you have a ceiling fan? You should put those clear cellophane covers over the windows during the winter. If you go with glass shelves get a bracket that clamps down on the shelf. I used something called pelican brackets from Home Depot. I've had shelves flip over on me when moving pots around.

Thank you for the tip on the cellophane covers. As much as I would love to utilize the glass shelves, I have too many orchids. Mine will have to go on racks.

I don't have ceiling fan yet. However, we are going to put one in soon.

Still no ceiling fan but things are shaping up in my grow space.

{{gwi:2118917}}

{{gwi:2118918}}

Somehow posted twice. Sorry

This post was edited by bea2014 on Sat, Dec 6, 14 at 7:30

I pretty much have the same set up as westoh because i lived in northern KY until 8 months ago and that was zone 6. I have grown orchids for about 3 years and this set up has served me well for them as well as several ferns and a few tropical plants that flower all winter for me. Next spring a greenhouse.

BTW good advice westoh about warning the neighbors. Mine started asking if I grew pot when they started noticing the VERY bright lights in my plantroom after it got dark. Lol

I told my neighbors I grow orchids under lights. After the obligatory jokes, I showed them pictures. They were disappointed that I really only grow orchids.

Looks like you have space to fit a lot more.

Is that a UFO LED fixture in the photo? I picked up 2 square fixtures this fall from Amazon for the basement where I'm trying to winter some fruit trees. The prices have come down quite a bit.

I might try putting the shelves perpendicular to the windows to catch as much natural light as possible. Even if it's only a few hours of indirect light it will help.

Here is a picture of my sun room from this weekend. With the sun at a lower angle and the leaves gone from the trees outside I get bright light a few feet in from the windows.

lumpy,

What do you think of the UFO's (90 watts?)? In my experience, they work great but are fugly as heck. I've also had some issues with the fans (3 per 90 watt setup) in my 3 UFO's. I had to replace a couple because they got very loud. I also lost one entire light when I got it a little too wet from spraying, I used it's fans as my replacements for the loud ones. They are standard computer/muffin fans, so they are easy to find and replace.

I should post some pics of my set-up this winter, light cart and 3 other growing areas using LED floods with chicken brooder fixtures (6) and an aquarium light set-up (2/55 watt CFLs) in a spare bedroom. Currently I use my UFO's for very high light plants in a 4th area that is set-up in an out of the way area so I don't have to see the pink glow constantly. Did I mention I don't like the color of the UFO lights :)

Bob

I bought 2 300W fixtures by Apollo for about $150 each. They are rectangular 16" X 8". A few years ago I paid $95 for a 4W LED spot light that was about 2" round.

I don't like the color either, but they are in the basement and I don't go down there much and when I do the regular lighting washes out the neon pink glow.

I have a mango tree down there as my test subject. I'm hoping it will flower soon, within the next month or so, if it does I will by 2 more.

Lovely setups, must be nice on cold winters days to go into those rooms.
Mango Trees, The micro climate here allows you to grow those outside and you can get fruit some years. Never bothered. Here is almost, the tropics.

Here is my set-up this winter, all in a spare bedroom.

Aquarium light set-up for a few:
{{gwi:2118919}}

The light cart:
{{gwi:2118920}}

An @ 4'x5' area with 4 LED floods/1 CFL over them:
{{gwi:2118921}}

In front of east window (Phrag Fritz Schomburg and Phrag Cahaba Glow, both just opening in the pic), there is an LED flood over these but it wasn't on when I took the pic this morning:
{{gwi:2118922}}

@ 120 plants in these pics.

Bob