Hey, you gotta start somewhere! There's nothing wrong floros, they just aren't very aggressive and they create a very oddly-shaped light-sphere. Their effective range is around 4-6 inches at best. You really need to keep active growth areas in this realm. There are many tricks to take maximum advantage of long florescent tubes that are awkward to work with. There is a way of getting more light energy from long florescent tubes where you want it. Get foil tape (2' wide for T12 floros, 1' wide for T8s and make sure it has a clear adhesive) and very carefully stick it on the back side of your florescent tube which faces away from your plants and towards your reflector, directly on the bulb, be sure to avoid folds bubbles and wrinkles. Make sure the tape falls an inch or two short of the end caps as the bulb is hottest here and you definitely don't want the metal tape to create a short between the usually metal caps. If you got the tape on there nice and straight with a minimum of imperfections they will be noticeably brighter on the side facing your plants. This works by reflecting the photons directly back out the front side of the bulb instead of them coming out of the backside, hitting whatever reflector you have and then making their way back down to the plants. Its a bit tricky to do right, but yields a major advantage and can extend the effective range of a tube up to a respectable 8 inches. Many plants are also compatible with the supercropping technique, which is great to use on sprouts and the like before they go outside to get them nice and squat and bushy with massively thick stems which will support huge growth once in the great outdoors. You can check out the details on my indoor tomato thread I've linked to below. Oh, also, welcome! I've not been on the forums long myself, but I think you will find its a very supportive community. Here is a link that might be useful: tomato diary

That's a nice mix. Do you have any idea what the yellow and red varieties are? The rest are all different. I wouldn't keep them outside until the evening temps are into the 50's. I've never had a problem with transplanting. Mine get full sun and most like to be kept on the dry side. Most of the passies I've grown from seed take about a year to bloom except for foetida which started blooming in about 5 months. Good luck with your passies.

Ha! I know what you mean. I am sliding fast down that slippery slope. Hello, everyone. I am new to this forum. Just when I thought I had my citrus addiction under control, I planted a guava tree and wandered into this forum and now I am doomed. I know EXACTLY what you mean about the "hit". I live in South Florida, and went to the summer fruit festival at the Fruit & Spice Park in the Redlands today and look at what I got for $80 (this includes admission into the park and a mango ice which was really delicious! lol). These are all in 3 gal containers. Tamarind, dwarf june plum, ackee, black turkey fig, raspberry (I don't know what kind, but the lady said they are almost black in colour. If anybody has any idea what variety it may be, I would like to know. I did a search and maybe mysore raspberry?)So, to continue, my last purchase, a sweetheart lychee, which I MUST plant today or tomorrow because the roots are coming out of the bottom of the container. Never mind that it is like a thousand degrees outside and unbelievably humid! Yes, I am a happy camper! I might add, I passed up a jackfruit plant that was only $10. I was sorely tempted, but I have no idea where I would put it. As it is I am going to have to remove a couple of coconut trees to plant some of this stuff. I really enjoy this forum. I wish I had acres and acres to plant all the stuff I would like. I am so jealous of some of you guys that have the room to plant whatever you want. I have to look into what I could put into some really big pots that would thrive and give me some fruit.That way I can get EVEN MORE TREES!!! OK, I'll stop. I'm babbling. Just so happy about my purchases!

Woo hoo! A much needed forum! I love it! Thanks for the heads up! Now I wish there was a Macadamia Growers and Olive Growers forum.