On 6 Mar 2003 09:52:57 -0800,
(Jeffrey Barker) wrote:

"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.

The sun is a much more POWERFUL light than any lamp you will
have in your home. Even by the time the sun's rays have
traveled all the way through space and through our
atmosphere, they are STILL much more powerful than any
artificial light you'd have in your home.

You will probably use fluorescent lights for your indoor
gardening and since many of them are 4' long, you can put a
lot of plants under one light fixture.

I believe the requirement for having the lights very close
to the plants is mainly for seedling plants: young plants
that you've just started from seed.

Many houseplants can be grown under lights that are not
nearly this close to them.

Pat
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