Moon's Graden

> Greetings all!

> My wife and I live in Southern California, USA; our house is on top of
> a hill with NO shade from any trees; we have huge sliding glass doors
> and/or windows on the east, south, and west sides of our house.  So,
> long story short, I believe we have TONS of ambient light.  Still,
> some of my indoor plants (mostly concerned about large dracenae
> marginata) seem to want more direct light than I can possibly give
> them; they may grow fine for a few years, but at some point, they
> start to look less than robust.  Don't get me wrong -- I am NOT one of
> these people who tries to grow full-sun plants in full shade, and then
> complains when the plant performs poorly.

> One option of course is to move the ailing plants to someplace in the
> house where they get more direct light.  I have done that with some,
> but some plants really cannot go anywhere other than where they are.
> I am thinking in particular of a huge pot of dracenae marginata (some
> stalks of which are over 8 ft. tall) -- this pot (a) won't fit
> anywhere else, and (b) provides an important decorative focal point
> exactly where it is.  [Relatedly:  I am a little concerned about the
> ambient light fading our couch, so I could move the couch to a closet,
> but then I wouldn't have anything to sit on when I watch TV; sometimes
> the functional costs of moving something outweigh the benefits].

> So...apart from moving plants from their current locations...is there
> any way to compensate for the possibility that some plants aren't
> getting quite as much direct sun as they'd like?  I have tried some
> "grow lights" before, and observed no significant effect, but I
> confess I have only used the 60 watt, bluish, "plant gro 'n' show"
> bulbs one can purchase cheaply at Walmart and hardware stores.
> Frankly, I never expected those to do much anyway, and consequently
> never really got into an appropriate lighting regimen.  Are there any
> "grow lights" that actually work?  If so, I am willing to embrace this
> option wholeheartedly this time.  Are there some online sites I should
> visit to research this issue further, or is the whole notion of "grow
> light" effectiveness kind of a myth?  What kind of lighting regimen
> should one employ with these kinds of lights (if indeed they have
> merit at all)?

> Also:  While I am not suggesting one can easily replace sunlight with
> chemicals, is there anything one can do with fertilizers to help a
> plant which may be getting less direct sun than it optimally requires?
>  If I lived in a cave, my doctor might say, "You aren't getting enough
> sun, so you should take a vitamin D supplement;" are there any
> parallels for plants?

> Thanks in advance for any guidance in this matter!

> Chuck

> So...apart from moving plants from their current locations...is there
> any way to compensate for the possibility that some plants aren't
> getting quite as much direct sun as they'd like?  I have tried some
> "grow lights" before, and observed no significant effect, but I
> confess I have only used the 60 watt, bluish, "plant gro 'n' show"
> bulbs one can purchase cheaply at Walmart and hardware stores.
> Frankly, I never expected those to do much anyway, and consequently
> never really got into an appropriate lighting regimen.  Are there any
> "grow lights" that actually work?  If so, I am willing to embrace this
> option wholeheartedly this time.  Are there some online sites I should
> visit to research this issue further, or is the whole notion of "grow
> light" effectiveness kind of a myth?  What kind of lighting regimen
> should one employ with these kinds of lights (if indeed they have
> merit at all)?

> > So...apart from moving plants from their current locations...is there
> > any way to compensate for the possibility that some plants aren't
> > getting quite as much direct sun as they'd like?  I have tried some
> > "grow lights" before, and observed no significant effect, but I
> > confess I have only used the 60 watt, bluish, "plant gro 'n' show"
> > bulbs one can purchase cheaply at Walmart and hardware stores.
> > Frankly, I never expected those to do much anyway, and consequently
> > never really got into an appropriate lighting regimen.  Are there any
> > "grow lights" that actually work?  If so, I am willing to embrace this
> > option wholeheartedly this time.  Are there some online sites I should
> > visit to research this issue further, or is the whole notion of "grow
> > light" effectiveness kind of a myth?  What kind of lighting regimen
> > should one employ with these kinds of lights (if indeed they have
> > merit at all)?

> IIRC, those "gro-n-show" lamps are blue-tinted incandescent light bulbs.
>   That's about the worst thing you could use.  Something that works well
> is a four foot fluorescent fixture with an electronic ballast and modern
> F32T8 triphosphor lamps.  They're not nearly as expensive as you'd
> expect, but you really need to position the lamps as close as possible
> to the plants.

> Even more efficient would be a high pressure sodium (HPS) flood light.
>   Depending on the wattage and the plants' light requirement, this could
> be set up as far as 6 feet away from the plants.  HPS lamps are an ugly
> pinkish-gold color, and the light is very unflattering.  I don't have
> any experience with "deluxe" HPS lamps.  They give much better color
> rendering, so they might be a good option.

> The other option is metal halide (MH) lighting.  They are not quite as
> efficient as HPS, and you have to change the bulbs a lot more often, but
> they put out an attractive white light.

> I suspect none of these will really fit your plan to provide
> supplemental lighting and have it look nice.

> Look out!  I posted the same thing a few weeks back and someone ripped me a
> new one for posting "misinformation."

>WTF are you whinging about?

>> Look out!  I posted the same thing a few weeks back and someone ripped
>> me a new one for posting "misinformation."

> WTF are you whinging about?
> I don't recall you posting anything recently about HID lighting or high
> efficieny fluorescents, but I guess you may have posted it during that
> week or two while you were in my killfile.

> Regards,
> Bob

> >> Look out!  I posted the same thing a few weeks back and someone ripped
> >> me a new one for posting "misinformation."

> > WTF are you whinging about?
> > I don't recall you posting anything recently about HID lighting or high
> > efficieny fluorescents, but I guess you may have posted it during that
> > week or two while you were in my killfile.

> > Regards,
> > Bob

> Vox,
> After reading the email you sent me in reply to this, it is obvious that
> I *totally* misread your r.g. post.  I thought you were being sarcastic
> and mocking me about something (which made no sense and had me kind of
> confused.)  That got me pissed because I thought you had some kind of
> grudge against me.

> Please accept my apology.  I was gonna email you, but figured a public
> apology was in order.

> I suspect none of these will really fit your plan to provide
> supplemental lighting and have it look nice.

> Bob

> Greetings again!

> Actually, I am not too concerned about how the supplemental lighting
> would look.  I might turn it on when I went to bed, or I might just
> leave it on while I am at work or something.  If this supplemental
> lighting had to pretty much be on most of all daylight hours to be
> effective, then I suppose the look of this lighting would be a bigger
> problem for me.

> Chuck

> > I suspect none of these will really fit your plan to provide
> > supplemental lighting and have it look nice.

> > Bob