It is ages since we have had a good discussion about lighting, so I hope you get lots of good info.

Perhaps you should tell the readers where you are and what sort of sunlight hours you get in winter. Sunny winter? Gloomy winter? Reflecting snow?

Yes, please provide more information about where you are growing your plants.

I grew orchids under CFL's in NYC. I had large west windows and supplemented in the evening with floor lamps. I bought octopus floor lamps which had 4 bulbs each. I bought the larges bulbs I could find (100 w equivalent) and used those. I was able to bloom Phals, Catts, Oncids with them. I never tried Vandas as I did not grow those indoors. I'm guessing those bulbs would not be strong enough to bloom Vandas indoors. If you can put the Vanda outside in Spring, you might be able to carry them over winter with the bulbs and they would flower outdoors in summer

. I don't think you can bloom them, but not sure.

Jane

Well usually I still get a few hours of sun on my east window in the winter, but unfortunately the last 2 winters have been especially dark and gloomy.

I've seen pictures of your set up, jane, I'm not talking about those lights you can get at the big box stores, but ones you can get online that are I guess about 3 times the size of CFL's at the big box stores.

I don't move orchids in out of the apartment. Besides their being room issues, I have other plants that would most certainly catch any pests that orchids might bring in, so that will not be an option until I have a whole other room to put them in...that'll probably be a long, long while.

Hi plantcrazed,
I actually looked into this last year. I chose a 105 watt CFL (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005FRCUHY?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage) as these seem to be the brightest ones you can get and still use a regular screw base. My husband was worried about it being so high wattage so he kept me in check. I also think if you go brighter than that you need to use a ballast . Since I used a regular screw base I put it in a light fixture that has a clamp (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005IC4MT0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage). I put it quite close (less than 1 ft) to the plant, which was a plumeria, and it seemed really happy. Even with it that close I haven't had any issues with heat output and the plant put out quite a bit of new growth after I got the lamp. I measured the amount of light the plant was getting and it was around 1000 lumens without the lamp and up to 37,000 with the lamp. However, the light drops off dramatically the farther you go so even that bright a light needs to be very close to the plant. I also looked into sodium halide bulbs and those are very powerful but from what I read they put out quite a bit of heat which wouldn't work with my setup. LEDs might have been above my price range, but I don't remember exactly why I stayed away from them so it could have been something else. If you want to use CFL bulbs my advice would be to make sure it's powerful enough for the distance you want from your plant. The thing that surprised me the most when I measured the light levels was how quickly it dropped off. I had no idea the lamp had to be that close!

Thanks Meisha! Have you had any bending issues with the bulb? Also, how has the bulb lasted? I hear that they do not last very long, or as long as they claim and that parts of the bulb will lose illumination.

Thanks Bob for the info and the suggestions! For the link you gave me, would anything at or over 120w work or do I need to look for a specific color temperature? What type of orchids are you growing with these lights? I know for sure that HID bulbs will not work for my situation as the heat and electrical issues would all be problems I'm not willing to deal with lol. So that being said, I'm really going to try to learn as much as I can about LED and CFLs, as they both have been around less and seem to have hit or miss products out there.

I've had the bulb for about a year now and haven't had any issues with it or noticed any decrease in intensity. I haven't measured it though, maybe I should. What do you mean by bending?

I grow everything (catts, mini-vandas, dend, paphs, phals, etc... under them. I also summer (late spring - fall) most of my orchids outdoors, which seems to help tremendously.

A really cheap way to do this is by using chicken brooder lamp fixtures for the floods. Inexpensive brooder lamp fixture

Bob