Hi Folks,

We have a decorative herb and vegetable garden in the front of our house. I
recently put a few of those dim, solar powered lights in the garden to make
it look nice in the evening.

Does this sound like a bad idea? The lights are VERY dim. But I wondered
if it would attract bugs. Or if the night-lights would mess with the plant
growth. They put out far less light than a quarter moon, but ya never know.

Does anyone have an opinion about accent lighting in the veggetable garden?

Thanks very much,

Jack Coletti
St. Petersburg, FL

"MostlyH2O" wrote in message
.. .
Hi Folks,

We have a decorative herb and vegetable garden in the front of our house.
I
recently put a few of those dim, solar powered lights in the garden to
make
it look nice in the evening.

Does this sound like a bad idea? The lights are VERY dim. But I wondered
if it would attract bugs. Or if the night-lights would mess with the
plant
growth. They put out far less light than a quarter moon, but ya never
know.

Does anyone have an opinion about accent lighting in the veggetable
garden?

Thanks very much,

Jack Coletti
St. Petersburg, FL



Don't worry about whether they'll affect plant growth. If there's an effect,
it'll be minor.

As far as bugs, you said you already installed the lights. They're right in
front of you. You can observe what's happening. How would we be able to
answer the bug question better than you, if we're not there?

MostlyH2O wrote:

Hi Folks,

We have a decorative herb and vegetable garden in the front of our house. I
recently put a few of those dim, solar powered lights in the garden to make
it look nice in the evening.

Does this sound like a bad idea? The lights are VERY dim. But I wondered
if it would attract bugs. Or if the night-lights would mess with the plant
growth. They put out far less light than a quarter moon, but ya never know.

Does anyone have an opinion about accent lighting in the veggetable garden?

Thanks very much,

Jack Coletti
St. Petersburg, FL



Jack,

I have used solar lights in my garden (plants and vegetables) for years
and I have never noticed any change (or problems) in plant growth. As
you said they are dim and really don't give off enough light to change
growth patterns. Around here, bugs aren't a problem either (they might
be in your area, Florida has a LOT of bugs). The biggest problem that I
have with the solar lights is that the kids steal them. Last year they
managed to make off with 6 of them. No matter how good I secure them
they manage to get a few of them every year. You might want to consider
that when adding them.
--
Bill R. (Ohio Valley, U.S.A)

Gardening Since 1969

To see pictures from my garden visit http://members.iglou.com/brosen

Remove NO_WEEDS_ in e-mail address to reply by e-mail

Does anyone have an opinion about accent lighting in the veggetable
garden?

As far as bugs, you said you already installed the lights. They're right
in
front of you. You can observe what's happening. How would we be able to
answer the bug question better than you, if we're not there?

It did occur to me that someone would bring this up :-) I thought, maybe
there could be some bugs later in the evening when I'm not looking - or
later in the year - and I don't realize it until too late. Guess I'll wait
and see .

Thanks,
Jack

... The biggest problem that I
have with the solar lights is that the kids steal them. Last year they
managed to make off with 6 of them. No matter how good I secure them
they manage to get a few of them every year. You might want to consider
that when adding them.

Little rascals! I got mine for $4 each - so I can afford reasonable
attrition

Thanks for the tip,
Jack

"MostlyH2O" wrote in message
...
Does anyone have an opinion about accent lighting in the veggetable
garden?

As far as bugs, you said you already installed the lights. They're right
in
front of you. You can observe what's happening. How would we be able to
answer the bug question better than you, if we're not there?

It did occur to me that someone would bring this up :-) I thought, maybe
there could be some bugs later in the evening when I'm not looking - or
later in the year - and I don't realize it until too late. Guess I'll
wait
and see .

Thanks,
Jack



Jack, I'm sorry if my response seemed severe, but I have real problems with
people who choose to rely on the observations of others, versus what they
have the ability, time and energy to see for themselves. Notice the word
"choose". I had a biology teacher in high school, in 1967, who would've
literally killed us if we asked questions like yours. We were expected to
conduct experiments without outside assistance.

Absolutely gorgeous pictures on your webpages Bill. . .What kind of
camera did you take them with?

Myrl Jeffcoat (Sacramento, California)
http://www.myrljeffcoat.com

"MostlyH2O" wrote in message
.. .
Hi Folks,

Does this sound like a bad idea? The lights are VERY dim. But I wondered
if it would attract bugs. Or if the night-lights would mess with the
plant
growth. They put out far less light than a quarter moon, but ya never
know.

How could the light from an battery powered LED alter the plant's growth's
rate? If it could we'd be really concerned about plants growing in cities
where they are being bombarded by reflected light pollution. Can you even
see anything beyond the brightest stars at night in major urban areas?

What insects are attracted to light and are also a threat to plants? Snails,
slugs, and catepillars seem to do far more damage then anything flying
around the porch light.

Does anyone have an opinion about accent lighting in the veggetable
garden?

If you think it looks nice, why should you care about what some guy on the
internet thinks.

-S

Does this sound like a bad idea? The lights are VERY dim. But I
wondered
if it would attract bugs. Or if the night-lights would mess with the
plant
growth. They put out far less light than a quarter moon, but ya never
know.

How could the light from an battery powered LED alter the plant's growth's
rate? If it could we'd be really concerned about plants growing in cities
where they are being bombarded by reflected light pollution. Can you even
see anything beyond the brightest stars at night in major urban areas?

Our skies range from a magnitude 3 to 4. Not bad for the west coast of
Florida. The street light probably sheds about as much light on the garden
as the accent lights.

What insects are attracted to light and are also a threat to plants?
Snails,
slugs, and catepillars seem to do far more damage then anything flying
around the porch light.

Very good point.

Thanks!
Jack

These can be appreciated during the day, but without help, only four can truly be appreciated at night.Without light, the eyes can not see the visual beauty of a garden.