Dolchas wrote:
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.

Bob