Using a light meter is an important part of growing under lights. Understanding the The inverse-square law for light will aid in your placement. -----Original Message----- is an important part From: Jane McGary Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2015 11:04 AM To: Pacific Bulb Society Subject: [pbs] Growing under lights I have no experience growing tender bulbs under lights in winter, since at my former house there was a solarium where I could keep many plants frost-free. Now I have a small (but very convenient) house, and the only place to overwinter plants is in the garage, where a former owner installed a tall, sturdy workbench with a fluorescent light fixture above it. I recently replaced the common sort of lamp with a modern fixture intended for growing plants, purchased from a neighbor who is closing down his indoor growing now that his "crop" is legal in shops here in Oregon. I just moved my tender plants onto the bench, but I'm not sure whether all of them will tolerate the light level provided. Many are South American and South African, both monocots and dicots, and I'm sure they will enjoy the bright light, but I also have some of the less hardy Cyclamen species. Should I shade the latter? I think Cyclamen persicum is probably as light-tolerant as Cyclamen graecum, which grows well for me in full sun, but I know Cyclamen creticum grows in woodland. I don't know the habitat of Cyclamen rohlfsianum. I was going to move a pot of Hyacinthoides lingulata (formerly Scilla) indoors, but it's doing so well in the unheated bulb house that I left it on the covered patio. PBS member Paul Otto recently photographed this charming fall-flowering bulb "taking over" a raised bed in his garden on the southern Oregon coast, where most winters are relatively mild. I have seen leaf damage on it after freezing, but the bulbs survive. I may add some next summer to the area under large Douglas firs now planted almost entirely to Cyclamen hederifolium, if I don't think a mass of blue, pink, and white will be a little vulgar. Advice on the Cyclamen species will be welcome. Jane McGary Portland, Oregon, USA _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/