"Tim B" wrote in message ...
Things you plant underground can't tell if there's light or not until
they're on top of the ground. Lettuce, planted on top of the ground,
needs light ... not massive amounts, but enough light to set off the process
that says, hey it's spring, let's grow. Once you have two true leaves,
everything you started will need light, preferably right on top of it 1-3
inches away so the plants don't go stretching toward the light.


Ok. This is not a troll, and I really hope it doesn't seem that way.
I'm planning on getting a grow light for the first time this season,
after doing some mild indoor and outdoor gardening for a few years.

The whole thing about putting the light so close seems a bit
confusing. (I'd like to use just one or two lights for all of my
plants so I don't have to spend a fortune on lights.) The SUN is
pretty far away, so why is it such an issue to have the lights so
close to the plants? I know the answer is so they don't stretch out
and get spindly, but why does artificial light have that effect? I
know this must seem like a really idiotic question, but none of my
gardening friends seem to know the answer.

Jeffrey