You have done a pretty great job of explaining how zenman has gotten so many of us addicted to zinnias, to the tune of 25 threads of breeding pictures! Zinnias are great with their ability to root easily and vigorously. My flower vases in the kitchen regularly roots zinnia long stem cuttings that I return to the yard. My yard is currently about a third grass, a third veggies, and the rest are zinnias to bring bees, birds, and butterflies to pollenate. What gets you is how easily you can jump between generations. The eagerness waiting for the next set of blooms lead us to fill our space with potential beauty!

Hi there, A winter gardening book is "The Winter Harvest Handbook" by Eliot Coleman. He is in Maine, and has lots of good ideas for season extending. He does grow crops all year, many in unheated moveable greenhouses, and under row covers and so on. He has all kinds of good ideas. If I really wanted to garden somewhere, I would go to soil conservation service maps and find the best soil in the area I was looking at, that I could afford, to begin with. This might save time and anguish later. I did this when I bought my house, and I am glad I did. I really think that it mostly takes wanting to have a garden, and then the rest of the details sort of fill themselves in. Every area has it's good and bad features. I would just pick where I wanted to live, and then make a garden on the best soil I could find. Think loam.... Also, check for covenants before you buy or rent a new place. Some places around here won't even let you have tomatoes in pots on your patio. Good luck!

Puchinita - For what you are doing , T8 fluorescents will be fine. I have in fact successfully overwintered jasmine indoors with only the light from a small south facing window in the Midwest - though I don't recommend that. It survived - but that's about all you could say about it, LOL! Your African violets should do fine in a south facing window without any additional light. I wouldn't keep them there in spring/summer, but over winter they should be fine. They do need more light than many people think - but not by a lot. The viola odorata should also do fine in the south facing window without additional light - though I have never heard of growing these indoors. Sensitive plant may also do alright in the window without additional light, but if not, it'll be easy to tell - the leaves will just fold up if its not getting enough light. They'll fold up at night, which is to be expected - but if they don't unfurl during the day, they aren't getting enough light. Put them under the fluorescents. If you have old windows, it may very well get too cold in the windows. If you have newer double-pane insulated glass - it may be alright, depending on room temp and how efficient the windows are. Yes, the fluorescents WILL provide some heat, but its hard to say how much. Mine are getting about 85ish under 4 bulbs hung in 2 fixtures, each about 7" wide and 4' long, in my room on the north side of the house with the heating vent closed, if I don't run the fan. However I doubt it gets or stays nearly as cold here as in Chicago. It would help to heat up, but may not be enough to keep the plants warm enough, depending on how efficient the window is. Yes, the lights must be hung. I suggest buying a 4' long wire shelf - you can get them for under $100 at Home Depot and Lowes - as wide as you can afford. Mine is 18" wide because that's all the space I had for it. 2 flats will not fit front to back on these shelves. I recommend 24" wide shelves if you can manage the space. A 3' long wire shelf will also work but you still need at least 4' of space because the lights will stick out 6" on either end, being they are 4' long. You'll just use the chains that come with the lights to hang them from each shelf. Make sure to leave enough space between shelves to raise and lower the lights as needed. If you're even minorly handy, you can build a set of shelves pretty cheaply from 2x4s. Do not use particle board or composite for shelves! Both will melt if they get wet. Use plywood or set in 2x4s spaced 4 to 6" apart. I've attached a link to instructions for a pulley system to raise and lower the lights, which I hope to implement here soon myself. This is how my dad did it back in the 50's and 60s for our very extensive grow area in the basement. I never knew how he hooked those pulleys up and he's gone now, so I was really glad to find these instructions. You CAN find and buy shorter fluorescents but they cost more. You probably CAN use the lights under your cabinet, and they would probably be fine for the low-light violets and maybe even the mimosa - but it won't be enough for the jasmine (not sure about your other plants). You would need to leave them on for 14 to 16 hours per day, which is easy if they plug into an outlet - just put the plug into a cheap timer. You can also build a tabletop contraption to hang a fixture out of 2x4s and/or plywood. If you have an empty closet you could also hang a fluorescent fixture from the clothes rod - but it needs to be more than 4' wide and you should remove the doors so it doesn't get too hot or humid. And don't hang any clothes anywhere near the lights. Better safe than sorry. It will also require a fan. You need to keep the tops of the plants as close to the fixtures as possible (except the low light plants, they should be fine, but if they show signs of needing more light, put them on a platform of some sort - upside down box or what have you - to get them closer to those undercounter lights). I aim for 1 to 2", others go for 3". So if you have plants of various heights, adjust the light for the tallest and then put the others on upside down pots or plastic boxes or what have you to raise them up closer to the lights. Here are some specific lights you might consider. 2.75" wide dual T8 32W, Lowes @$25 These lights are very narrow profile but you must wire in a plug. I just got 5 of these because with these lights I can get 10 bulbs per shelf compared to the 4 I can manage now. Use this if you need to wire in a plug: $4 15 ft TV power cord It is rated for 10 amps and the above ballast will only draw 0.8 amps peak. It will have power, ground, and neutral wires which is all you need. If you cut it (roughly) in half and add a 3 prong plug, you can actually get 2 cords out of it. You might need a pair of wire strippers though you CAN do without with a little care. Any polarized (3-prong) plug rated 125V will do. Here are 3 possiblities: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-15-Amp-125-Volt-Double-Pole-3-Wire-Grounding-Plug-Black-R50-3W101-00E/205165472 http://www.homedepot.com/p/Pass-Seymour-15-Amp-125-Volt-NEMA-5-15-Dead-Front-Straight-Blade-Plug-5276BKCC15/202664499 http://www.homedepot.com/p/Pass-Seymour-15-Amp-125-Volt-Armored-Plug-PS515PACC15/202664524 EDIT: I forgot, you will also need a strain relief clamp for each fixture, like this: Strain relief clamps I'm not sure if that's the actual correct size without eyeballing it, but that's the type of clamp you will need. It will go into the knockout at the end of the fixture where the power cord will come out and holds it so it doesn't crimp or cut over the sharp edge. Also, if you want to get away without cutting cords or stripping wire, look for a cheap power strip with a 6' or longer cord. If you disassemble the power strip you should be able to remove the power cord and it will already be stripped and you can just wire up the fixture with it pretty much as-is. I prefer the regular straight plugs so they will plug into a power strip (which I then plug into a timer) without running in to each other - some of the angled plugs will cover up nearby outlets on a power strip. You will also need wire nuts to make the connections. Electrical tape is no longer recommended for use with most modern wire nuts. You can also go to monoprice.com or cablesforless and get almost any polarized standard computer cord for this use. 6' cords can be had for under $2 each. 6' polarized cord at Monoprice END EDIT This light would be suitable for your needs and comes prewired with a plug. 5.5" wide dual T8 32W, Home Despot @ $15 These are the bulbs I use. You can of course get just 2 - I have enough lights hanging that I buy them in the 10 packs. They'll cost a little more per each. 3.33 per each in the 10 pack, about $5 per each in the 2 pack. Lowe's carries a similar Sylvania bulb that comes in a 12 pack for about the same price per each. $33 Pack of 10 - Phillips 4 ft. T8 32-Watt Daylight Deluxe (6500K) ALTO Linear Fluorescent bulbs $10 2-pack Phillips 4 ft. T8 32-Watt Daylight Deluxe (6500K) ALTO Linear Fluorescent bulbs I also listed some T5 fixtures Home Despot carries that you would have to order into the store (which is free) in a previous posting. I don't know if those come prewired with a plug or not. Fixtures and bulbs both cost about twice as much but if you're only buying one or two lights maybe that's worth it. Those do not come with a reflector (neither do the narrow profile T8 fixtures from Lowe's) but you can rig up a guerrilla reflector for one or two lights if necessary. Here is a link that might be useful: Pulley system to raise and lower fluorescent strip lights This post was edited by zensojourner on Mon, Dec 1, 14 at 18:33

Barb...both happy and sad....Happy he is moving forward with his life. Knowing he will go far as long as he stays focused on his studies, and learns to quit being so wasteful. Sad because he is moving on and we will be seeing very little of him in the next 4 years or so. We havent made any new life adventures yet. House needs some TLC. I suppose first we will get used to having a home with just us and the critters and go from there. Chell I used to be a dog and cat groomer. I loved it too. But my employer was a deedeedee. Never had the money to pay me each week and always "owed" me. And she never gave me my tips either.Then at the end of the year she reported more earnings for me than what I had really made.Fortunitly I kept records and proved my case and won, so make sure you don't let the same happen to you. I have kept my clippers, blades and accessories and still will do a neighbors dog or two once in awhile to keep my skills up.....but don't miss the hair stuck in places I did'nt know existed....lol. Love all the pictures the everyone post. Always enjoy seeing ya'lls babies. Regina