Who said Schefflera like lower light? Not true! They love the sun!

Well, I guess before I offer my thoughts I should give a bit of a disclaimer that I've only had plants for 2 years now (a Thanksgiving Cactus, Jade, and Aloe) and this is the first year I am acclimating them to outdoor light so I am by no means an expert on the subject of lighting or succulents in general really. Crenda, great question; I had completely forgotten about screens and the like! In my opinion I would tend to agree with you because it would seem to me that whenever the light goes between the grid those parts of the plant would get direct light. I've seen recommendations for using small screens, closely planted bamboo, etc to surround plants while acclimating them. Maybe the idea is that with the smaller holes/slits the plant only gets direct light in a particular section for a very short period of time. Hopefully somebody else will have a comment on this. On an off topic note, how do your succulents handle the FL humidity? Plasmid, again I have only a very limited experience with different types of succulents, but here goes. As I'm sure you've read, most people like to put plants in South facing windows which get the most direct light. This is usually for sun-loving arid plants. There are a few succulents that do like indirect light especially the jungle-dwelling Holiday Cacti (Thanksgiving - Schlumbergera truncata, Christmas - Schlumbergera x buckleyi, and Easter - Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri). TC is by far the most commonly sold probably followed by EC. They actually grow up in the trees (a class of plants called epiphytes) and are very shaded by the canopy. Most of what I have read suggests placing them in an East facing window. (Mine are currently in the South and do well, but we have an enormous Tulip tree shading that window.) These might do ok in a North window especially since it is unobstructed. Some other genera to check out might be Sansevieria, Senecio (especially rowleyanus - string of pearls), or Rhipsalis. I haven't grown any of these myself (yet!) so maybe some others can comment or provide other suggestions. Thanks for the discussions so far! Nathan This post was edited by Nathan.M on Tue, Apr 22, 14 at 10:14

Contrary to widespread popular belief, your south facing window will receive very little direct sun as we get close to the summer solstice. The east and west facing windows will get a lot of hot sun in summer. Many palms, but not all, crave sunshine, be advised that is detrimental to place a sun loving plant outside in a sunny location without first adapting that plant to outdoor air and sun. Plants need a week or two in dappled sun, or bright shade before being placed in direct sun. To do otherwise is to risk a disfiguring sunburn.

uhhh WHAT???? I'm not Sheldon on Big Bang Theory. :) UPDATE: I JUST called AeroGrow and asked how many Lumens EACH bulb puts out NEW. Since I have 2 bulbs in each garden, it would be twice the amount per bulb. They put out 1,500 Lumens NEW. Then get weaker as they age,of course. So...right now I am working with 3K Lumens per garden. the light hood with the bulbs in them, are about 6-7in away from the tops of the violets, depending on the pot they are in. Some are a bit closer, some are a bit further away. The maximum the lights can be away is 12in. Some crowns are getting tighter/crowded, either from growing fast from getting stronger light, or they are to close to the lights? I have moved them up 1 notch in each garden, and like i said, they are about 6-7 in away from the top of the violets. Some violets are on the very edge of the garden tray area, some are right under the two bulbs. The pictures ended up here...not my plan! To show some of my set-ups, and the crowed crowns on some, the blooms i am getting, the pink/purple single bloom is 'Playful Spectrum'. Its leaves are very firm and it is in a 2 1/4 in pot. The crown pic. is of my 'Twinkle Twirl', this one is 'Heinz Starfish'. All the small ones I just got a week ago, and as you can see, I taped a 'foil square' to the side of one garden, there is so much light spilling over the sides, so I can put in two more violets it. The pics. i took of my other gardens/plants, to show the bloom stems growth, all came out either to dark,or WAY to bright. So they were not showing whats up. These were the best of the ones I took. so..any opinions of the light, and are they getting to much light now, or what? I am now getting a TON of bloom stems starting to pop up/out on my 'SILVER GLADES CINDERS', I mean like a dozen or more!! Getting more on my 'GEE PEE', and my, 'THE MARTIAN', a WASP variety. They were all in the 2 OZ Solo cups, till I potted them up 2 weeks ago, also the same time i got my new bulbs. There are (2) 26W AeroGarden GrowBulbs per garden. Less complicated opinions of my set-up, and the growths seen? I'm not that bright when it comes to light!!