The aquarium next to where i'm sitting has a glass cover, maybe that is part of your answer though you need the lighting gurus to say how much light would be lost to the plants below.

I've never seen 36" 96W tubes before - just did a google search and it seems they exist (didn't read too in depth) but I'm wondering whether this is a specialty item. Humidity trays are not a problem

I know some people who have used large wattage CFLs. In my humble opinion, CFLs (unlike tubes) are useful as point sources of light for one or two plants. With a large bulb, you get more bright light concentrated over roughly the same area as a lower wattage bulb..this might be improved with reflectors, but not by much. If you have one large cymbidium or a cattleya that you need to supply a lot of light for, then a 125W CFL would be good...but if you have many plants you want to light up, either several smaller CFLs aimed around the cluster of plants or better (in my opinion again) a tube fixture under which you can put all your plants.

Thanks for the replies. Yes, the 36" CF tubes do exist. I actually used the very same retrofit kit over a 40 gallon saltwater aquarium for years with no problems. That did have a glass top in between though. I was thinking the same thing about the area Calvin. Guess I just wanted some assurance. I'll go with the kit.

n20,

A lot of people use the 55-85 watt screw-in CFL's bulbs with the brooder reflectors found in the big box stores (Lowes, HD, etc...). It's not a 'pretty' set-up, so you may not want to use this in a living room.

I use several different indoor lighting set-ups.

I have:
1. a retro-fit (2-55watt G11 type bulbs, side by side) that I built myself.
2. 6 or 7 55/85watt CFL screw-in set-ups.
3. an adjustable 3 tier light cart with 4/40 watt flouros per tier.
4. a 55gal aquarium with a 4' hooded (2/65watt G11 bulbs again, end to end) light, not to be confused with the retro set-up above.

All things considered, I like my 3 tier light cart best, depending on size of plants I can get anywhere from 40-100 on this cart. Beings it is 3 levels it takes less floor space. But it works best with 'shorter' plants, once something gets > 10-12" tall it usually comes off the cart and goes elswhere. I change the 40 watt flouro bulbs yearly.
The 3-tier cart was a pretty hefty investment, @ $600 7 years ago.

The 85 watt screw-in CFL bulbs are less expensive than the G11 types, they can be moved easily and in my opinion and experience will provide lighting for more than one plant. I had 4 set-up over a bench with @25-30 'kids and they did fine.

I lost most of my orchids this spring (health issues and not able to care for them adequately) so I'm rebuilding my collection. I currently keep most orchids (@60, mostly seedlings and phals) on 2 of the 3 tiers on the cart and 4-5 phals/phrags under an 85 watt screw-in CFL. I also keep 4-5 mini-vandaceous types and a nodosa in the 55gal aquarium.

As the collection grows/expands I'll start using the 85 watters again.

Have you looked at ahsupply.com for the retro-kits?

HTH,

Bob

59.00 for a cf bulb? Personally, I'd go to Home Depot and buy their "Eco" bulbs,- make sure you check the package and get the 'daylight' type. They are shaped like a spotlight, run at about 14-16 watts each and give the equivalent of 60 watt incandescent. Even in clamp on fixtures, they don't look really tacky. They're under 10 bucks each.
Otherwise, see if you can find an old T5 fixture.

Bob. Thanks for sharing. Wow, you had quite a setup. Yeah, I think for now I'm going to start with the 2 36" setup and expand if I get more plants. Almost kicked myself when I checked out AHSupply's site. Thought their kit was cheaper. Turns out it's the same as the one I bought (Hellolights.com) which comes with two bulbs.

Conjuay, yeah, they are a bit pricey but I think work well. They were great before when I used them with my aquarium. I know what you're talking about with the spotlight bulbs and will supplement with those if I need more light.

"Otherwise, see if you can find an old T5 fixture"
Let me know if you find one! The last time I checked, T5s are the newest tube lighting available, but I could be mistaken. I use a 4 tube 4'T5 54W setup as well as a 4 tube 4'T8 32W setup for lower light things. This is mainly because I grow minis

new2orchids - I asked about the tubes because that sounds like a really high wattage for tube lighting. I'd love to have 96W bulbs...do you have more details on that?

Calvin,

They are the G11 plug-in type bulbs.

If you go to www.ahsupply.com you can see some examples.

Bob

oooh that's cool - never seen these before. I wonder what the light output is. I see the CFL is bent into 2 tubes - with two T5s at 54W each that's roughly the same, I suspect.

Calvin,

As I recall, about 4000 lumens per bulb.

Bob

Yeah. When I bought those tubes last (~10 yrs ago), they were called power compacts and were the newest thing on the block. Now they're just called compact flourescents.