My experience this year has mixed results. I have a room in my basement where I start my seeds. In past years I have the lights on 16-18 hours a day. This year they have been on 24 hrs, a major difference in growth. The room is a steady 66-70 vs the GH where temps vary from 46 to 95 depending on sunlight. I have seen a big difference with growth based on sunlight and temps which we all know is key to growing. When we have steady temp/sun the growth rate is high but we have had some cold and cloudy so the plants stay put. This week is supposed to be warm and sunny so I expect the GH plants to flourish. I have tomato plants in the basement that are farther ahead the those in the GH even though they were potted up at the same time. I left some inside to experiment. Here is a link that might be useful: Gardening by the Seat of my Pants

Stitz,I think what you want to find out is what most of us want to know too,but are cautious of placing our Vrieseas in direct sun.You don't know when a plant is being left too long in sunshine,and the results of sunburn are not fixable. I have a number of vrieseas,two like yours,and have had mixed results regarding light,color and growth.Ive noticed that leaf width and length will change with the amount of change in the growing conditions.Strappy in poor light,wide,shorter,and compact in good light,and if you can't control the lighting conditions (winter/summer),it makes for an odd looking plant,alternately narrow and wide leaved. When outdoors,I've always shaded them with 60% green shadecloth,except a few that receive only morning and evening sunlight.Some color up better in bright light rather than direct sunshine.None have been sunburned,as I don't trust putting them into direct sunshine. I suppose it can gradually be done with some species,but maybe not others. But which ones? Perhaps someone out there in GW can give us some answers to those questions. How about you,Lisa,in that sunshine mecca,Hawaii? And you've shown us photos of some real vriesea beauties here on the GW. Bob

I don't agree with blanket statements that more sun is always better. While this might be true in places with high humidity and lower elevations, here in the hot arid SW at 5000 feet, there is such a thing as too much sun, and plants which receive a few hours of shade/partial shade always produce better and are less stressed. Plants here that receive 12 hours of direct sunlight will develop a blasted look in the summer where the color is more grayish-green than lush green. The lower leaves get leathery faster than shaded plants, and the leaves rarely provide a flattened surface to the sun, no matter how carefully you maintain moisture levels. At a certain point here, sun ceases to be a critical component and becomes a stress factor. Plants grown in buckets in these conditions do even worse. They dry out very quickly, and the buckets can get extremely hot when placed on surfaces like concrete, brick, or stone. To help, you can put a layer of mulch in the bucket to help retain moisture, and if your ground temperatures are high, you can place the bucket higher up on some type of stand. Regarding your plants, yellow pear does have thinner, more sharply jagged leaves. It's typical of that variety. Under the right conditions, they can become obscenely large. Since you only have one plant to compare, it might not actually be the conditions that are unfavorable, but it could be the individual plant itself. When you transplanted the yellow pear, was it still in any type of peat container?

Hi! Be careful, ponds are addictive! The issue with light is that some plants (like waterlilies) do need a good amount of sun, and there does need to be enough light for the plants generally. Everything gets going in a lot of light, including green algae, so in bright sun you do need to make sure that there is a fair amount of plant cover. My pond is north-facing and breaks all the sunlight rules as on the south side is house, and the north side is tall trees and a decent size wall as well on the west side. It doesn't get a huge amount of sunlight in the winter, but in the spring/summer/autumn it gets sunlight from about dawn to noon, and then from about 3:00 to dusk. There are periods of seasonal green water which I don't mind, and there are plenty of bugs etc. to feed the ever growing frogs, toads and newts that have found their way to the garden. Even had a kingfisher last spring helping itself to the stickelbacks---not bad for a town garden! So I would suggest go for it---and with regard to planting you will find out what works and what doesn't. The wildlife in your garden will appreciate any bit of water. Do make sure though you create some kind of beach so your critters can get in and out, and if you can, avoid paving stones all around the pond as the froglets will stick & fry when they get ready to leave the pond unless they have something natural to hop on. Also, if you want to encourage wildlife, making sure they have places to live helps (rock piles can be attractive and provide homes, as well as wood piles covered in ivy in out of the way dark corners). If it is big enough to be quite deep (2 1/2-3 ft, then you are also providing hibernating places for male frogs for example. Tall things like iris also provide places for the dragonflies/damselflies to emerge. Have fun! chip