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Old 01-11-2008, 12:29 AM posted to rec.gardens
[email protected] thomaswalgrove@yahoo.com is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Nov 2008
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Default Indoor gardening - skylights but no windows

I moved into an industrial building in Burbank, California. It has
wonderful light but it doesn't seem to be the right light to grow
plants. I moved in last month and 75% of my plants died from what
seems to be not enough light. They just stopped growing for two weeks
then died the next week. This place has so much natural light that I
only have to turn the lights on when it's completely black outside. It
has five 8'x8' sky lights in a 25' tall ceiling in 2,400 sq.ft.. I've
actually noticed a light tan on myself but this doesn't seem to be the
light the plants need. I have no windows at all and no outdoor area.

How can I tell how much plant-friendly light I have in here?

If I don't have enough, what should I do? Buy artificial light or buy
only plants that can live in low light?

Someone told me I need to hose the skylights off to let red and blue
light in. Does that make sense? These are those white frosted sky
lights. The taller plants seem to be doing better than the ones on the
ground.

I lost my plumeria, arabian jasmine, regular jasmines, gardenias,
rosemary, basil, cilantro, impatients, some succulents, only now have
spider plants, dwarf orange tree, elephant palm, queen palm, some ivy
topiaries and plants I got as gifts which I can't identify. I feel
like I have the biggest brown thumb in the world. I had these huge,
healthy plants for 12 years in the outdoor patio of my previous home
and now I seem to have killed almost all of them. Thanks.

Tom