No, it's not milkweed, this is Solanum dulcamara.

I fruited a pineapple indoors. I wasn't able to give it any time outdoors. The fruit was big, but it was a dwarf form. I cut off the fruit and sliced it. I thought it was equally sour as a lemon. I think if you can get enough light intensity you might be able to have sweet fruit. You should read Ch3rri's page. She desribes eating a fruit that was not recieving enough natural light. She says that even though the fruit was ripe it was still watery and not as sweet. I believe it was some kind of atemoya or sugar apple. I don't remember the specifics. You should also look into supplemental lighting. Check out my southwestern NY mango update. You will come across a link that shows an excellent light for sale. I would decide what you want to grow and then research the specific cultivation info to find out about the light and heat requirements. That way you wont be dissapointed. and then there are some of us who are doing it under less then ideal circumstances and some of us have decent results. Andrew

Is it possible to grow roses indoors? I'd say yes, with some major caveats. It won't be cheap and it won't be easy. I grow orchids, and I start rose cuttings with my orchids in orchidarium, which is indoors. I've grown those cuttings on, to some degree. The first hurdle is to provide enough light. When I mean enough light, I mean more light than even high-light cattleya orchids require. Keeping in mind that direct sunlight is 10,000 ft-candles, to grow a rose, you'd need to produce (my guess) at least 5-6,000 ft candles of light. This would be about 2 feet away from a 1,000 watt halogen bulb, which is about the size of a street lamp halogen. The new LED lights may be able to provide it at a lower energy cost. I tried one a few years ago, and it was a bunch of hype that didn’t work to grow even my low light orchids, but technology has improved since then. Okay, so this is roughly equivalent to shaded outdoor area, which as we know is enough to grow a rose (sort-of), but not enough to for it to bloom well. So you’d need to double that. I’ll let you figure out how much in your area that would be for electricity, because you’d want to run the lights at least 10 hours a day. Another thing to keep in mind is that the grow lights are of specific spectrum, so if you want normal colors you’d have to choose full spectrum lights. (Aside: this would include UV, which we know is part of tanning and promotes skin cancer and can damage the eyes, so you’d want to wear sunglasses and sunscreen, just as if you were gardening outdoors.) Then there is the issue of heat. The lights would generate heat, and the fans that are in many units help with that, which also would raise the temperature of the room. You might need some air conditioning in the room in the summer, or leave a window open in the winter, although you’d have to be careful not to let it get too cold at night. Having the days bright and warmer, and cooler and dark at night is good for orchids, I’m not sure if that is needed for roses. My roses seem to do best at temperatures lower, especially at night, than I typically keep my house and warmer during the day, like 50-60 F at night and 80F in the day. If you didn't want to induce dormancy, then you'd be best growing roses like Tea roses, which can grow in tropical areas. Something I’ve learned from growing cuttings indoors is that roses, like orchids, need air movement. Without it, too much light will burn the leaves, but perhaps most importantly they will be very prone to fungal diseases like mildew. So you’d want another fan to keep the air moving over the leaves. For a full size rose, you’d also need the space, and enough light units to cover the area of growth. Basically, you are trying to duplicate the conditions that the roses like, i.e. recreating the outdoors, but indoors. This would mean an appropriately sized room with full sun conditions, and air movement, enough root room (i.e. at least a 20 gallon container), certain humidity, watering and fertilizer. It’s doable, as you can see from greenhouse grown florist roses. You’d just have to have the space, energy and finances to create such a place.

purslanegarden - I had the specs on my lights when I bought them but don't recall them now - I know they are sufficient to grow a variety of plants (I bought the setup from a place that sells cannabis supplies) - and as I said I do grow many indoors under grow lights - my lettuce are the only ones that suffer. I didn't move the lettuce from germination to now - maybe that;s the problem. They were probably 6 inches from the lights at germination. LoneJack - thanks for the info! I figured out after a couple of people mentioned Johnny's seeds what it was - I hadn't heard of them before - I am new to growing from seed. They are pricy - i will definitely buy from them once I am done with my current seed stock. I would like to buy onion starts from them though!