"So, if I used potting soil with fertilizer included should I still do the half strength every other time thing? That goes for summer and for winter. I have never really gotten the hang of fertilizers." How you should (or can) fertilize depends on a combination of factors. If I knew the factors, I could recommend a fertilizer program - but I don't, so I can't. What I can say though, is that supplemental nutrition is tied directly to your soil composition and your watering habits. You will have the happiest plants if you fertilize every time you water with a low dose of fertilizer - even in the winter, but you can only do that if you're using a soil that allows you to water beyond total saturation, so that at least 10-15% of the total volume of water applied exits the drain. E.g., I use 10 drops of Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 in each gallon of water EVERY time I water my plants - all winter long. I never have the problems with insects, diseases, and failing plants that are so often described on this forum. The level of dissolved solids (how much stuff is dissolved in the water) in plant cells and in the fertilizer determines how easily or how much difficulty plants have absorbing water and the nutrients dissolved in water. Plants absorb water and fertilizer when the level of solutes in their cells is high, and the level of solutes in the soil solution is low. On one hand, plants would never be thirsty if all we gave them was water with nothing dissolved in it (distilled, e.g.), but then they would be lacking nutrients. If we say, "Ok, lets load em up with food so they grow fast, we run into problems because the level of solutes in the soil solution gets so high that it makes it difficult for the plant to absorb water and the nutrients dissolved in water. So you see, it's a balancing act. Ideally, we supply just enough nutrients to satisfy the plants nutritional needs, keeping nutrient levels low, but still in the adequacy range. Make sense so far? The best way to do this is to supply continual low doses of fertilizer regularly, and flush out the old accumulations of salts when you water. Even if you're not fertilizing at all, if you water in little sips, the stuff dissolved in your tap water accumulates in the soil and eventually makes it very difficult to impossible for plants to absorb water. Improper watering absolutely guarantees a plant that is relegated to growing always at some fraction of it's potential genetic vigor, even when every other cultural factor is perfect. Using an appropriate soil and watering properly, on the other hand, guarantees the opportunity for plants to grow AT their level of genetic potential when other cultural factors are perfect. FWIW, the reference to light levels upthread is an over-simplification of how light affects plants, and is in error because it gives the sun singular importance in determining whether a plant thrives. An inadequate or inappropriate light level is only one of a long list of limiting factors, which includes every nutrient necessary for growth, temperature, moisture levels, soil structure, and many more. Each of these cultural considerations is equal to the effects of the sun in that they all have the same potential to kill the plant. You mentioned that you haven't gotten the hang of fertilizing ...... If you have specific questions, it's likely that I can answer and I'll try to the best of my ability. Al

HID lamps produce a lot of light from a small bulb. That concentration in a small area means that the bulb is hotter than a fluorescent tube of the same power, also more of that heat is radiated as infra-red radiation. Because of this and the concentrated light, HID bulbs must be mounted further away from the plants or they will scorch. The effct of mounting distance on light intensity is completely dependant on your reflector arrangement, but almost always the light intensity will decrease with distance, maybe a little, maybe a lot. Assuming we are talking about metal halides, they are not noticeably more efficient than modern fluorescents. They should be used when you need a more intense light than you can get from a fluorescent tube. You may also wish to use high power HID bulbs for lighting large areas when the alternative would be ten or twenty fluorescent tubes. HID bulbs below about 250W become significantly less efficient, a fluorescent (or compact fluorescent if you need more intense light) is generally a better choice for lighting small areas. The spectrum of metal halides is neither more nor less like the sun than fluorescents. Standard metal halides and standard (halophosphate) fluorescents have most of their light concentrated in a handful of wavelengths and almost none at other wavelengths. Newer triphosphor fluorescents combine red, blue, and green to provide a somewhat better spread of wavelengths, and the amounts can be varied to produce a bluer or redder light. Specialist fluorescents produce a much wider spread of wavelengths, and specialist (eg. ceramic) metal halides are available that do the same. HPS lamps are the most efficient but aren't generally used for cacti because of their spectrum. Maybe there is someone out there who uses them? Maybe one of the new "blue" HPS bulbs?

I have been incredibly surprised with this bougainvillea vine over the past week. Its growing much faster than i could have ever anticipated. I would not be surprised at all at this rate if i get flower buds in the next 5-10 days. I've never seen such growth in such a short time on any houseplant. In the last 5 days its gotten over 18 inches longer, grown over 40 more leaves, all of which are now a vibrant glossy green. Keeping in mind this is a small plant and its only in a 5 inch pot. I dont even recognize the pictures i took and posted on here from Saturday. Think of those pics above only completely covered from head to tail in leaves.

Thanks Phyllis! Yes I have seen that idea as well as using a 5 gallon white plastic jug from laundry softener and cutting a hole, or a big white plastic basin. A lot of the success depends on the strength of the lamps you use outside to light up the inside of the container. And if you have a DSLR with a flash that can be tilted up towards the ceiling or behind, you can use an airline barf bag (excuse the term) slipped over the flash attachment to diffuse the light. I'm uploading these tutorials onto their own blog, at the rate one per week, with links to other interesting places and will also be adding some sections on using a DSLR: aperture and depth of field, understanding f stops, shutter speed, bracketing exposures and a little more. SharonCb