Growing Under Lights
- Subject: Growing Under Lights
- From: Sandy Connerley s*@SBCGLOBAL.NET
- Date: Sun, 31 Aug 2003 20:27:57 -0700
Diana,
I have grown under lights since 1999. I use four foot shop light fixtures
with one cool bulb and one warm (kitchen/bath) bulb in each fixture. They
are on inexpensive timers with the plants sitting on trays on the shelves.
They bloom all year and I do feed them during winter, but probably do not
feed my plants as much as some people I know. Regarding the plants not
reaching their full potential under lights, with respect to leaf coloration,
that is true. However, one finds that some flowers are prettier when grown
under lights than in natural light. One that comes to mind is ‘Wedding
Royale’ which can be a bit harsh in the color of the flower in natural light
and very “wedding” like and romantic looking when grown under artificial
lights. Regarding how wet the plants are kept, not overly. The ones you
must watch out for are those on the bottom shelf in the winter. As the
others are sitting above plant lights, they tend to be warmer and need water
sooner. However, the bottom shelf plants use much less water and one must be
careful not to over water. I have not practiced this, but it probably would
be wise to rotate the trays. I have not started seeds for summer under
lights. Would be interested in hearing of others who have done so.
Sandy Connerley
