Indoor Lighting

[thisbattymom]

Do any of you have minimal indoor light? How do you make it work for your plants? Do indoor plants require UV or broad spectrum lighting like my reptiles?
I live in an apartment, middle floor, dark walls, primarily only lamp lighting, facing south, where there are huge pine trees blocking 1/2 the light. I have so little light indoors through the winter that the only place they survive is on my sink & in my child's desk (where the light is constantly on, 2 ft above them).

[opabinia51]

Yes, I have minimal indoor light, the solution is grow lights. They come in incandescent bulbs, flourescent bulbs and these other fancy looking conical shaped (what I am guessing are incandescents) that are not worth buying because they don't last very long at all.

So anyway, you can screw the incandesencet bulbs right into your lamps or you can buy these apparati that clamp onto shelving or what have you. All of this is available at Home Depot and most Garden Shops.

[TheBigEasy]

What about "indoor" lights on my deck outside, under the overhang? It seems that our natural sunlight does not last long enough on it's own in the right areas here. (coupled with the side walls of the deck also helping to block the light). Do they have these types of lights that are safe to use outdoors?

[opabinia51]

If you have light fixtures on your deck, just screw in a grow light bulb into those and that would work just fine.

I'm not sure if the apparati are safe to use outside. You'd have to ask the retailer that you buy them from