Actually, I keep my orchids at the top-and my streps on the bottom! The AVs are in between.

So far it seems to work quite well!

Do you have a cover for the rack?

Best,
Judy

Awesome!!! No cover. This one is a white wire rack 5 tier with 4 bulb T5s on each level. The Cattleyas will be on pebble trays for humidity. The Greenhouse Megastore has white trays. It looks as nice as possible. I wish there was a similar set up that looked less industrial but I can live with it.

Not sure how big yours is but I put in two T-5s four bulb combos on two shelves, but found that four bulbs was far too much. Removed two bulbs each, and left one grow and one flowering light in each fixture. Works much better this way. Keep an eye on your leaves to see if it's working!

What model did you get? I'm looking to get a bigger one. Right now I've got just two mini greenhouses, but only one has lights. Those I will expand in the next few months for baby growth. My greenhouse racks are about 20"x27" and I can get two normal size flats on each.

Best,
Judy

Treehugger, I have always had my orchids with the streps and never had any problems with either. Remember, when you have a group of plants together they naturally raise the humidity level around them by their respiration. Orchids do not need high humidity to thrive. Humidity levels in my growing area is 40% and my Cattleyas are growing and blooming with no extra effort.

Dave

Hmm. I am looking at the 2 bulb Hydrofarm 24" T5s and a Sunblaze same set up. The sunblaze is 5" high though and that will take up plant room. The first one I have is a hydrofarm, 4 bulb, 2 feet and 3". I love it but like you said, it is probably overkill for streps. I will turn off 2 bulbs and see. My rack is 36 wide x 72 high x 14 deep but I am allowing the white trays to hang off to give me more space for my streps which are crazy light. Currently everything is on desks measuring 36 wide x 24 deep which is a perfect size but I am out of room (again). The great thing is that I plan to use the indoor light gardens for starting the veggies I will need next Spring so then I can use all 4 bulbs.

Dave, I should get a humidity gauge. With the A/C on or heat running here in PA, the humidity is pretty low until I cook and then it spikes for awhile. I grew catts a long time ago in an east facing window under regular double T 12 fluorescent grow lamps on humidity trays with a fan oscillating. I had orchids blooming like mad. I am kind of excited to get them going again. Thanks for the feedback. Judy/Dave - regarding my other threads, the streps are looking fantastic but none of the so called fragrant streps have any fragrance even at night. That is why I caved and ordered a few orchids again.

Don't know where you're buying them from but there's a person on Ebay that sells them for less-+ free shipping. They're Hydrofarm fixtures. Look up YourHydrostore00. These arrived in perfect condition, brand new, and saved me well over $100. When I order again, I'll order from them (Ebay).

Dave's right on the money for the humidity thing. However, I just don't group plants closely enough to reap that benefit.

I've been trying to rescue two orchids, and they're coming around nicely. However, I do have a plastic cover over my trays and the humidity collects nicely at the top where the orchids are.

Best,
Judy

Judy, The lights are actually 1 buck cheaper with amazon.com if you have a Prime membership and offers 2 day delivery included. Hope that helps. BTW, if you have never looked into Prime membership it is like 70 bucks a year for FREE 2 day shipping on anything you buy. I made up the membership fee in the first week in saved costs. It's great. I get all my hort. supplies from them.

On anything you ship anywhere (thinking Christmas here!)????

Yep.

Hmmmm... Thanks!

Late to the party but ...

As far as humidity and orchids go -- it depends on which types of orchids you have. While some do indeed require higher levels of humidity, many others do not. My winter RH is around 30% -- and that's WITH a humidifier running 24/7. My Cattleya and Phalanopsis orchids do just fine. Even have some Masdevalia, Bulbophyllum, and a plethora of other miscellaneous genera. Most can handle it better than one would expect.