Wow those are beautiful NOIDS @anon-cdn!. so there is hope for T8 shoplights after all!. and here I was debating on if I should put a layer of window screening under the tubes to help dapple the light lol. but as we can see t8 does work just the way it is! thanks @anon-cdn! now I feel much better about splurging on T8 lol. I just wish T12 didn't die out they worked so well for me and everyone else on violets and u can keep those T12 shoplights lower-10 inches lol. Im doing wall shelving-where u have a shelf on the wall. above that do another shelf where u hang your shoplight from. I can do several shoplights that way and at the same time doesn't take up floor space. got the idea online lol! here is a pic of where I got the idea from, pretty good idea. this way you just take up wall space and leaves your floor space free. notice in the pic, its just a simple wooden shelf with a wall bracket. and directly above that at the proper height you do another shelf, same size and that's where u hang ur shoplight under then the chain suspends it. good idea, simple. leaves floor space totally free and same time doesn't clutter your room up with stands! not to mention this is by far the cheapest method ($3 each if that for a simple 48x12 wooden pine board cut at home depot. two bucks for shelf brackets. $20 for a t8 shoplight) where as if u use stands u got to buy a stand first (usually $40 or more...some are $119 at home depot for the edsal 48x24x74h storage shelving unit five tier) add to that shoplights. tubes. ur pushing $200. so choice is clear this is the cheapest route! :) plus I have all my floor space FREE

Hello , well if you are anything like me those two are just the begining . Haworthia is one of my favorite geni . I Have used several differnt mixes over the years....with one thing in common ....drainage . The mix I've used the most with Haworthia has been 50% miricle grow moisture control 50% perlite . Taking pups from a Haworthia has been very easy for me. Let them get a bit of size to them first pop them off let them dry for a few days and repot ...never had any problems with them at all that way. As far as a north window...I wouldn't be able to pull that off here, I'd end up with an etoiliated plant but that is in zone 5 I keep mine in east and south facing windows.. and on the deck over the summer months. My cybiforms do get a few hours of easterly morning light , and brigt shade the rest of the day. HTH Tim

Norma, lol, you are hilarious.. Sux = succulents..sorry, I shouldn't be so lax, just type out the darn word. How did you get away with typing bast*** in your post? Does GW not consider this word vulgarity? A few wks ago, I typed the word bi*ch in a post, after clicking submit, a window opened warning that word wasn't permitted. IMO, b**ch, 'like bast**d' have a few definitions, one meaning a female dog..yet it was denied. hmm.. Regarding parrots/macaws, Citosa pretty much explained. The last 15 years, I bred Cockatiels. Are you familiar with this bird? They're larger than parakeets, but smaller than, a breadbox..lol, j/k, I don't know which bird to compare to..Let's say from head to tip of tail, they're at least 9". Some a little larger, others smaller. On top of a cockatiels' head is a crest. Did you ever see the bird on the show Barreta/Baretta..sp is incorrect. Baretta has a Cockatoo..if you ever saw this bird, you might recall he too has a crest..the crest sometimes stands erect, especially when a bird is excited or frightened. Anyway, when we bred cockatiels, (not a big business, more of a hobby and to help people who couldn't afford big-time prices.) One pair, description. Male/common gray..his body, mostly gray, some white, gray and white wings..cheek, circles of bright orange. Female/white-face-pearl..no orange..mottled gray and white from head to bottom. Cockatiels can lay anywhere from 1-10 eggs..ours averaged 4-6.. Per every clutch/eggs laid, 1-2 were all yellow babies..some had orange cheecks, others were w/o. The remining chicks mostly looked like dad, but every so often, one resembled mom. My other pair are white face pied/male, and white face pearl/female..Gray babies are without orange.. His wife is number 3..he's outlived, and hope he lives another 20 yrs, 2 wives. Number one was a Cinnamon gray..when they had babies, most were gray w/light orange cheeks, males had deep orange cheeks. The first couple mentioned, somewhere along the line, an all yellow male or female/yellow = Lutino, got in the act..lol. Norma, now for plants, lol, a good number of my succulents are what you call, bast***s..lol..problem is, I do not know their ID's.. I get mixed up with Alow/Haworthia, and yucca/pandanus.. One succulent bought locally looks like hanging baby aloes..It was only a year or two ago I found it was a Sanseveria. Do you know which Sans I'm referring to? Thanks for the help..btw, why Blue & Gold bred with Scarlet macaws produce orange and blue Catlalina's is an enigma..The DNA maker knows for sure..lol..Toni

rok, difference is the quality from HD usually is chincy at best. I can also buy a solar light set of 6 for 24.99 for my front path but in a year at best they'll be gone or lawn ornaments. Disposable lighting. hmmmm nice marketing concept homey D; stamp out the cheapest product possible, consisting mostly of poly and cheap steel materials, along with chinese sweat shop engineered electronics etc under misleading names like "Hampton Bays" Did you know that HD IS hampton bays? homedepot=mickie mouse lighting period. do it right the first time. Extraordinary lighting stores and supply houses in our area that have staff on hand for field-educated face to face explinations anytime include Aetna-hicksville, Creative Lighting-mineola, star&son-franklin square, Duplex michaels Revco out east too many to list but i have had terrible experiences at just about all nassau county HD, the lighting center, national, expressions, walmart, kmart, and countless others. nowadays its hard to find a real old time store with cutting edge product that can help like these. You will have no problem finding wire, ballast,nuts,and sockets for custom reflectors/boxes and greenhouses where a remote ballast is golden. Lowes stores seems to be a better place to start though they just started to pop up recently round these parts so i can say little. creative is where i have shopped for 30+yrs. Good luck on your journey into lighting hope this can steer some folks into the light it took an hour to write up i hope you can appreciate what I am getting at. peace LS