Simply untrue. I have a dinette with windows on three sides. My light meter says that there is twice as much light there than under my oak tree. C'mon ... But yes, you stick the parsley in a back bedroom, or in the basement, it's not going to do that well. I grow my spring seedlings in that dinette, with zero electric light. In fact, that dinette is surrounded by trees, so the sunlight coming in there is pretty heavily filtered.

My setup that worked wonders. You can also do this in a closet with a pole lamp or hanging lamp. You will need to remove most of the fruit. If there are no leaves then all the fruit must go. You also have your area listed as zone 9a but you live in Canada. Is this possible. Steve

Let's share some tricks and observations! These are a few of mine such as to get Butterfly Orchids and other higher light requiring types to bloom inside, using T55 Fluorescent and/or Sodium Vapor lights. Oncidium Mendenhall "Hildos" blooming inside under managed balanced light system http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4198187/oncidium-mendenhall-hildos?n=3 Q: Why are all many plants on wires? A: Trees don't grow in my living room and it maximizes plant quanity and balances humidity better. Yes, good balanced humidity is very key to my growing secret. (Although she already suspects it I don't mention to my Wife the middle reason.) The Cat is excellent at taking light meter measurements and also bug patrol. She is the Fauna part that I encorage.

I'd say Silica is correct about the ratio of light to soil temperature. This is only meant to simplify the balance of the relationship between leaves and roots. Leaves use light to start the process of making food. The leaves will tell the roots that it needs all the ingredients of the photosynthesis "recipe" to finish making food. So in normal ideal outdoor conditions, the roots provide and send up water+nutrients needed to complete the food being made in the leaves. Imagine that to citrus roots 55F and lower is considered to be like frostbite to the roots. The roots cannot do anything when the soil is cooler than 55F. It cannot absorb water, it cannot function at all and so it basically sleeps to conserve its energy. However if the leaves are having a blast above the soil and getting a sunny Hawaii vacation thanks to strong indoor lighting, it will try to make food. The leaves cannot stop itself from reacting to light. When light hits the leaves and warms the leaves enough for it to function, the leaves will react to light no matter what and must start photosynthesis. But if the roots are too cold, it cannot send up the missing ingredients because it will be in hibernation. Eventually the leaves will lose moisture since it is in active mode. While the leaves are active and losing moisture, the roots are inactive and cannot send water up to hydrate the active leaves. Like running a marathon without any sustenance. The tree will sacrifice it's own leaves if it cannot provide itself the water or nutrients that is needed to continue with the process. Sorry if my post was long. I feel that it can be simple to understand if I try to compare it to thing we already understand. So to answer your question Mike, when the tree is getting plenty of sunlight that means leaf activity goes up and therefore root activity must also go up in order to keep the balance in their relationship. In order to make the root function as much as the leaves, temperatures of the soil surrounding the roots must increase. If root temperatures (and therefore root activity) cannot be increased because heating is too expensive, then the activity levels of both root and leaves must be in balance. Either the root or leaves will have to follow the other. If root activity cannot go up to parallel the leaves then inevitably is it up to the leaves to follow the roots footsteps and also be very inactive. That means reducing light levels to reduce leaf activity for the sake of matching the cold/inactive roots. I think of the leaves and roots as two parts of one living creature. It cannot live without one or their other. Both parts must follow each other because they are two halves of a whole. One is the pie crust and the other the pie filling. You cannot have a pie with a very thick crust but 2 teaspoons of filling and vice versa! It just wouldn't make any sense. You would have a very disfigured and unappetizing pie! They must both contribute the same amount to create a balanced and delicious food! I can get creative when I need to when it comes to explaining things so if this still wasn't easy to understand at all, feel free to let me know. I hope this helped anyone confused about the whole roots and leaves matter