Minal, for many years my mother, sister and I grew African Violets without the assistance of anything more than south facing windows inside our house. Violets are relatively hardy and IMO very easy to propogate. All you will need are some leaf cuttings from a desired plant, some rooting hormone powder and a glass of water or a sauce of sand or vermiculite. Once they have rooted you transfer them into a suitable sized pot and treat like the rest of the violet plants. I don't know of any books I can recommend for you to read on them, but I am sure someone else will. Good luck with your new project!

Most of my AVs sit in east-facing windows. When I break a leave I stick it in the soil and leave it. When that leave has a few new small leaves I move it into its own pot.

African violets don't need tons of light to root and grow - I used to do them under only artificial light, using 4 four foot shop light tubes.

If you put the minigreenhouse in a south window with the plastic closed, the temperatures could quickly get hot enough to fry your plants. I would experiment first before risking much - maybe buy a cheap minimum-maximum thermometer.

I doubt you'll need grow lights to supplement your south window, unless it is heavily shaded by trees, other buildings, curtains, etc. I'm confused - are you thinking of using the lights at night for extra heat? Does your room get really cold at night?

Hello,
Thanks for all of your replies. Yes I was planning to use lights at night for extra heat. The room does get cold, between 55-60F.