Energy-saving lamp to grow orchids, self-made.

Energy-saving lamp DIY, on the new mini orchidarium

Before I make decisions on how and how much light give to the mini orchidarium I studied a lot. Unfortunately, there are no universal answers, each plant has different light needs and every terrarium is in a location in the house that has, or not, the day light. For sure we have to know at least  the right "color" that light must have to be useful to our orchids, in fact using a wrong light even 2000 W would not have an significant effect! The light that activates photosynthesis, and is therefore useful to our plants to grow and flourish, is in the spectrum of blue and red, in short, it is recommended that you choose lamps with a color temperature of around 6400 K, combined with others around 2400 K, but the first would seem to be more effective. I finally decided! I bought 2 Philips Tornado cool daylight 6500 K, enlightening power 1450 Lumen.

Orchidarium DIY lamp, upper side

Energy-saving lamp 6500 K,
usefull to grow orchids

I had not yet solved the problem of how to install them also adding a reflector to limit the waste. At the end the solution was effortless! A resin drainpipe ! The shape is perfect and it is also easy to cut and drill! After cutting a piece of "correct" length to be above the mini orchidarium I lined it with  aluminum adhesive tape , to attach the socket I used trivial plastic ties purchased at the hardware store. The only difficulty was to understand how to space the lamps from the ceiling, at first I used some pieces of foam tucked under the lamp holder but unfortunately they were not strong enough, then I found the remnants of wooden chopsticks, all OK! The electrical connection is simple, you just need a bit of practice, or ask for help from someone who knows how to make it. The plug is connected to a simple 24h timer  that has half-hour intervals.

At first I set the lighting to around 14 hours a day, but the plants have become too light or dark or red and dehydrated, so I reduced to 12 hours a day and I replaced a 23W lamp with a lower power one (8W) always 6500K. I think I see an overall improvement in the color of the leaves but it is still early to say, however, red is almost gone, this is certainly a positive sign!
This is the top view of the mini orchid set up with the lamp.