I have grown Hoyas for years under T-5s with great results. I experimented with a couple of the UFO LEDs around four years ago and was not that impressed with the results, but I believe that the technology has vastly improved since those early days.

I am soon going to be trying a much larger experiment with more powerful LEDs and will report back with the results. T5's are great lights but lack the punch to penetrate into the canopy of larger plants. I've also experimented with small HPS lamps which do a pretty good job, but get very hot.

I've used T5s and specialty LEDs for the ones that can't stay outside all year, over the winter. But the LEDs I have are the full spectrum white light, I got from an orchid vendor. I just put them in shop light casings that I got for 7 bucks at the store. Nothing fancy. Everything seems to grow just fine over the winter with them. The LEDs I have didn't even interfere with the blooming pattern of my high light orchids.

One major difference between T5s and LED is heat generation. The LEDs do not put out any heat. That can be either a benefit or not. If you count on the heat to raise the growing temp during the day, then the LEDs do not do that. A day/night temperature differential is very important for some plants. For me, the heat output was a disadvantage, as we get a day time warm up even in winter.

Good LEDs are more expensive as well, but they draw less energy and last much much longer. (If you measure the output of T5s, you can see that the bulbs need replaced periodically.) As I have some plants that are very high light requiring, I decided to go for higher end LEDs, mine were 60 bucks a piece. But I know that there are many out there for much less.

As for red/blue, I just didn't like them, but I have seen many anecdotal reports from orchid growers that use them, and they seem to work for them.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

Renee

I am gonna experiment with the red/blues and will let you know the results. Using heat mats for the ones that want the extra heat. And the ones that are mean to me (finicky and demanding) get to sit in an aquarium for extra humidity. I find that my only one struggling is my polyneura. Can never seem to make it happy so I don't touch it if I don't need to.

This post was edited by AuroraWA on Sun, Aug 24, 14 at 20:36

Polyneura likely needs to be cooler than your climate is.

I am growing under T5s and am happy. I have not tried LEDs - when I was choosing light systems last year, I got the impression that the LED space is full of either salesmen / people with agendas, or growers whose judgments seem affected by the sunk costs that they put into LEDs. (It hurts to admit you paid more while cannot be sure that this is better.) Seemed a lot of hype and excitement with not a lot of level-headed scientific explanation and convincing experimental results.

Some other things made me uncomfortable, too - like when people say cheapo bulbs are cheap quality, but then I was unable to find what exactly makes a better quality bulb other than the price, and how do I tell reliably. It seems silly to buy more expensive bulbs and fixtures in the environment where vendors can jack their prices and then use price alone to talk about their quality. Circular logic. I moved on.

Although I also believe that the technology is developing and getting better, and the things that can be done with LEDs that cannot principally be done with fluorescents are indeed exciting. Generating light in very narrow spectrum bands, just where plants need it to be, means even lower power consumption than now, no heat - all exciting things. I'll just let others be "on the cutting edge". Sharp things make me nervous. :-)

I know my polyneura is a cool grower, and that is why it is in my house (thermostat is at 65 year round) and only gets dappled light. I still think poly is just one of those hoyas that let you know, at all times, that it prefers to be left alone.

As far as LED lighting goes, I was nervous too. With all the hype about them, and their cost, I was reluctant at first to try them. But I did. And I went for a cheaper bulb. And surprise! It works the way it was intended. I do know that other LED bulbs have all those fancy fins and reflectors, some even have fans in them and others have some sort of light boosting lens or something. Those things still cost way more than I am willing to spend, and the benefits? Well, I have no clue. I am trying to light an area that is at max 8x10(length of wall/height of wall), not an entire neighborhood!
I can tell you one thing as a DEFINITE postive: the bulb I bought has paid for itself and then some (the one in the hothouse, that is...hoya one was just put up), as far as a lower electric bill. I did see an improvement when it came to my veggie seedlings, as well. Less leggy and they seemed to fill out faster. I can't say they definitely filled out faster, but they were definitely less leggy.
But I honestly went LED because of the lowered electricity needs. I was only crossing my fingers about the other claims. Figured if it worked, it was just a bonus.

> I went for a cheaper bulb. And surprise! It works the way it was intended.

Well, there ya go. Perhaps if pricier bulb sellers can't explain why theirs are better, maybe they aren't then.

> I honestly went LED because of the lowered electricity needs.

That is a definite known advantage, so yes.