Do Orchids Like Grow Lights?
Do orchids like grow lights? The answer is yes. Plants need light to produce and thrive. Without it they die. If you want the best results for your orchid plants, then you have to give them regular exposure to light.
Some orchids will grow better with a strong sunny window. Others will do better in indirect light. But, all orchids do better when given light that is just enough to bring their foliage and roots into the sunlight. Too much light is just as bad for your plant as not getting any at all.
When you plant your orchids, you want to keep them somewhat hidden. You will only want to expose your plants to light during the brightest hours of the day. When the sun goes down, as it does for most plants, you will need to switch your lights back to low intensity. The key to this is knowing what kind of plants you have. If you have seedlings that you are growing under box or potting medium, you should not expose them to full light because they will burn. Most seedlings do okay if you put them in a dark window box or pot.
Most of your indoor plants get very good light from fluorescent or metal halide lighting. This is what most people think of as being the garden lighting for orchids. It gives off a good amount of light without creating heat or allowing it to get in the air.
If you have seedlings that you are growing that are going into the flower phase, you will also want to use artificial light. Metal halide and fluorescent tubes will give your plants just the right amount of light. Metal halide bulbs are great for growing orchids indoors for the first month or so. If your plants don’t like the intense light, you can move them to a bigger size that you can change the light bulb to.
Some orchids like the sun better than others do. There are orchids that will grow better with light colored light while others thrive better with white light. Keep in mind that plants cannot actually see the light colors. What they can perceive is shadows, dimness, and the rainbow spectrum. All of these things affect how well your orchid will grow.
Some orchids like the growth process to be gradual. If you have an orchid that is in the growing stage and you suddenly turn on lights and give it lots of illumination, this can cause the orchid to panic. Your orchid will feel stressed out and you may have to put the orchid into a dark place for a few days to help it calm down. This is why some orchids do best when they are in the house doing their normal growing things. If you have an indoor garden, at least run some hoses and artificial light coming into the room to help keep the orchid stress free.
If you do orchids indoors, you can use artificial light in the winter as well as the summer. However, you must take steps to keep the orchid healthy throughout the year. You should make sure the orchids get all of the nutrients they need and have a good chance of surviving. If you do orchids indoors, follow the tips above and learn more about do orchids like grow lights.
One of the main reasons orchids do well indoors is because the grow lights we use to provide indirect light. What this means is we can control the amount of light they get. When we do orchids like grow lights, we can simulate the sunlight by placing the orchid in direct sunlight. Just be careful not to over do it.
Another reason orchids do so well when we use them to grow is because they actually absorb much of the light they receive. In fact, some orchids will actually use up most of the energy we provide to them. We can take that energy and turn it into heat or send it out into the air. This is one reason many people choose to grow orchids in a window planter.
The last question we have for you to consider when you are trying to decide if orchids like grow lights is that you have to be sure that they are getting enough water. Water is very important for the health of orchids. Without it, they will quickly die. They may look great when you get them from the store, but if you don’t water them often, they will not stay growing very long.