the vita-lite brand of fluorescent tube was recommended to me by a seasoned aquarist years ago for aquatic plants. it is reported to closely simulate the ultraviolet spectrum of natural outdoor lighting. i had good results using them in my aquarium hood. the bulbs/tubes are more expensive compared to other brands of wide and full-spectrum lights. Here is a link that might be useful: vita-lite info

I've kept a green carnosa with just office fluorescents. I'm fortunate to have 2 large windows in my office now along with fluorescent lighting so a lot of my faves stay there during the winter. Susan

No. I have been sooooo busy the past few weeks, barely have time for anything. But I really need to go, as I have a linearis growing like mad in a glass ice cream sundae dish filled with clay aggregate! I need a pot for it, you would not believe the roots and growth I have gotten in such a short time. A few days ago I recieved as a surprise with some hoya cutting trades the cutest little hydro heart shaped pot! The woman who sent it owns the company in Canada. But I need something bigger for the linearis, I have some ariadna cuttings rooting for the heart pot. As for lights, I had to go out and buy a new "cool" bulb and, being pressed for time, just stopped at the local Lowes, something I have been putting off for weeks, felt so good that I finally got the bulb, then came home and dropped it on my kitchen floor!!! Grrrr.... Anyway, I do plan on heading to the hydro store, I talked to them on the phone and they have everything I could be looking for as far as lights/hydro supplies go. I had wanted to go this week, but..if not, next weekend for sure....IF I don't go camping....sigh... Then of course there is the question of money...and I know nobody wants to hear this but I need to vent!! Yesterday my parrot bit my 5 year old niece. Now I don't know if any of you have ever been bit by a parrot, but it hurts, and she IS only 5 so there was much hysterical crying and screaming. The only way I could get her to stop was by making much fuss over the new fairy statue my mom had just gotten her at a local gift shop. So, while I was bandaging her hand and marvelling over the $42 statue - I knocked the statue off the table and onto the floor - crash! Both wings snapped off. Fresh screaming and hysterics. The ONLY way to console her was to bundle her into the car and drive to the store where Aunt Jennifer will buy her another fairy statue....well, guess what....the one I broke was the only one of that kind that they had. Another bout of hysterics, this time in public...but hey look, they have this OTHER beautiful fairy statue that is ONLY $20 more!! So, Aunt Jennifer gets to fork out $65 for a fairy statue. And, mind you, Aunt Jennifer is on a very tight budget, there is barely money left over for neceessities like food and toilet paper and hoyas, let alone $65 fairy statues. Sooo....the hydro store may have to wait a few weeks. Thanks for listening.

Hopefully, some light gurus hang out here. I'll cross-post this in the Greenhouse section just in case. To make a long story short, I'm trying to find a heavy-duty outside plastic cover for the GH I plan to build but am having trouble finding one that allows a significant amount of light through, based on light meter readings. Usually, the specs say the cover allow 88-92 percent light transmissions but I don't get close to that. Just a thought - I wonder if the people who quote the statistics are using the same measurements I am. All three things I have tried, from some white construction plastic reinforced with fiberglass, to 5.2 oz. covering from FarmTek to plain white (not clear) plastic from the hardware store have Lux reading less than half on the inside of the GH compared to the outside. But... I live in a very old house and the upstairs does not have good windows, so I line them with plastic during winter time. When I ran out of room for my seedlings this winter, I stuck some of the trays in front of the windows with the plastic covering them. No other supplemental light but the plants did not get leggy and then did not need "hardened off" when planting time came. Is it possible the plastic is filtering certain spectra and that is what is causing much lower Lux readings? Maybe the scientists or whoever report light transmission rates are using PAR light that is getting through? Or perhaps diffused light does not raise a meter as direct light does? Mike