Much like my friend from Oklahoma, I see no brawl either just some folks sharing their differing opinions and that is a good thing. I have to admit that I was hoping that some of the "Green Party" folks would eventually show up. Fulfilling my wishes, they did. A couple earnest people have questioned the facts that I selectively chose from "right-leaning sources". Of course, true to form, they selected only "facts" from "left-leaning sources". To really add muster to the point I am attempting to make, we even got to witness an element from the whacko-fringe, who only registered on this forum that very day to spew his "facts" and brand me a coward. I have always felt this element continues (sadly) to inflict harmful impact to the credibility of the ecology movement as a whole. Facts what exactly are facts? I am not really sure that I can say with any amount of certitude. Both sides of almost any issue can banter back and forth all day long, citing sources that deduce quantities of data into diametrically opposed conclusions. As the old joke goes, told in my first session of a statistical analysis class in 1969 at Iowa State University: Question: What do the statistics say? Answer: What do you want them to say? Any more, I am very dubious about forming an opinion based upon "facts" until I know the agenda of the one promoting that selective set of "facts". One of our participants has now encouraged us to view a movie with a collection of "facts" provided by a politician who at one time claimed to personally invent the Internet. This guy has lived a life filled with agendas. Facts? Hmmm Not having even done so, I could probably go to a right-leaning source (say, perhaps Rush Limbaughs website) that would present another collection of facts to refute everything the movie contends. Unfortunately, ecology awareness (choose your own preferred term) has become hopelessly ensnarled in politics. It seems like every word used is defined differently, depending upon who is doing the using. Bill Clinton illustrated this technique well when he famously said: "It depends upon what the definition of "is", is." If you take the example of my "fact" about there being more trees today than when the country first began. Firstly, the numbers are extrapolated estimates from both dates. If you pay careful attention to the typical phrasing of the data (Can any estimate truly be considered data?), the left likes to use the term, "cover". More in: "Statistics clearly show that there was X percentage more forest cover in the 1700s than at present." On the other hand, the right seems to prefer the term, "number of trees". How exactly do the terms, "forest cover" and "number of trees" directly equate? Do they really mean the same thing or, are both sides trying to promote their chosen agenda? I suspect BOTH sides are fudging a bit. However, I dont think either side is using words that are not technically truthful. More to the point: Lets say you and I have a 1 acre pot of land side by side. On your ground, you have a huge, 100 year-old bur oak tree growing on a savanna. On my identical plot, I have just planted 200 oak saplings. Without question, it would be a true statement that your single tree provides many, many times more cover than my saplings. However, it is equally true that I have 200 times as many trees on my ground than you do on yours. Does it make sense that we now begin arguing over who is more environmentally conscious than the other? I have grown weary of the exaggerations of both sides. I have grown weary of the name calling. I have grown weary of the smarmy politics. I have grown weary of activists (on both sides) telling me what I should either do and/or believe. I have grown weary of being told "the sky is falling" when I can look around and see the many improvements that have happened in my lifetime. (Yes, there is still a lot left to do.) I have grown weary seeing the good, hard work by dedicated, environmentally concerned folks suffering serious, repetitive setbacks to their cause at the hands (or mouth) of a few whackos. What I would now most like this thread to do is move beyond the politics and return to discussing what precipitated this thread at the onset: People like our friend, NYwoodsman, who feels landscape design has nothing to offer him and further believes landscaping issues fail to adequately embrace nature. His arguments are not totally without merit for a certain segment of society. Personally, I think it is possible to do both. I even suggested one example for him with an enhanced incorporation of spring ephemerals into his woodland. In an essentially treeless paradigm of the prairie, I see far too much opportunity squandered by both "the green crowd" and landscape professionals. It seems to me that by an unconsciously self-imposed sequestration, both "sides" remain blind to the opportunity afforded by mutual cooperation. Is anyone else interested in exploring this? IronBelly

The hens know what they have to do. We normally open the door when we get up, even in the winter, and they choose whether or not they leave. I know that when we get snow only the rooster will leave so we put food and water in the coop and let them do what they want. My advice is to leave the small hen door up when its daylight out and close it when it gets dark. I know that only a few breeds of hens continue to lay in the winter so if you don't get many eggs don't worry. Their instincts and durance to cold will tell if they want to stay in bed or not. Just make sure to break the ice on the water, if it gets that cold over there and that they have food. I'm sorry I don't have any advice about your hens laying on the roost, none of our hens have ever done that before. I hope this helps some. Although I have to say the light is a really good idea. I never thought of that.

I am not a member of AOS and cannot access the magazine. So, I googled the author and found this piece, which covers a lot of technical aspects of LED growlights. I like the discussion of technical terms, such as PAR, PPF and DLI, which more accurately define the light used by plants. I also like how she mentions that cattleyas can require twice as much DLI as phalaenopsis or paphiopedilums do to flower. For an affordable LED growlight, I recently came across this YouTube video that demos Mars Hydro TS 600W, which has very good reviews on Amazon, for vandas. Like many 2019 LED growlights, it has a warmer glow, unlike the cold fluorescent or blurple that older LED technologies emit. I don’t have a Mars Hydro, but I do own a few growlights from Fluence and HLG that use similar spectra. I find the warm, sun-like glow to be very pleasant. Last winter, my growlights did a great job helping my jasmines and camellias bloom indoors. I recently bought 20+ cattleyas and dendrobiums, and we will see how they do under the lights this winter.

GG - well, you do seem to have got the whole thing going just the way you need it. Even to the point of constructing your own shelf. Impressive. :-). And to try to set it up so the pots are not obstructing the glass, a very nice detail. Creative use of the glass shelf unit to make your own glass shelves. Wow, that’s some view you have from your windows on the East side. Amazing. The Freedom Tower too? Wow. Thanks for the link to the floor lamp, that’s a lot of bulbs. My radiator is partly recessed but it comes right up to the window trim. The West window is in my DR/Kit area in a small house. I just don’t have a lot of room for more furniture. I’ve considered setting up a shelf unit in another room with lights and just moving the plants in and out of it on a rotation and keeping them in positions that I find more decorative. I also like to have enough plants in each room for the air cleaning ability of plants n the winter when the house is shut up. I did try putting a shelf unit in front of that window for awhile with lights, and it was too much for me. I have 7.5ft ceilings and small double hung windows - two side by side in the DR West location. It cut down on the light and the view to a point none of us enjoyed. So, I’ll have to think about how I can supplement the light this winter, in the least obtrusive way. Most of my plants have done fine over the winter with the lower light. I have a number of Pepperomias that are very easy. And I have a counter I the kitchen right in front of a large West window, where some of them sit. Thanks for sharing all your very creative ways of making it work for you. I will try to post some photos when I can.