The advantage of LED's. light shines in one direction so if all the led's are pointed in a narow range forward, then most of the light will hit your trees. The life expectancy of the LED bulbs are 50,000 hours but the electronics in it probably won't exceed much over 6000 hr. You and I loose. The multi color lights is largely a gimmick. Single color bulbs are less efficient than all spectrum bulb. So lets put all the diodes in all spectrum instead of having a group of one color combined with a group of other individual colors. Citrus trees are slower in winter because of many reason with one being less light. trees are genetically coded to sow down to day length, decreasing solar angle, light wavelength shifts as the solar angle changes through out are seasons. BR40 CFL - 23 Watt - 120W Equal - 6500K Full Spectrum Daylight this is the best bulb for your trees and will look good in you living area. check out this company's link and check out Home depot or other for equivelent. If you value time and don't mind reasonable sipping cost than just get the above. Home depot may have a 6 pack going for much less. They may not. Kroger's will rip you off on these. No rush you have 5+ months left.

Puchinita - For what you are doing , T8 fluorescents will be fine. I have in fact successfully overwintered jasmine indoors with only the light from a small south facing window in the Midwest - though I don't recommend that. It survived - but that's about all you could say about it, LOL! Your African violets should do fine in a south facing window without any additional light. I wouldn't keep them there in spring/summer, but over winter they should be fine. They do need more light than many people think - but not by a lot. The viola odorata should also do fine in the south facing window without additional light - though I have never heard of growing these indoors. Sensitive plant may also do alright in the window without additional light, but if not, it'll be easy to tell - the leaves will just fold up if its not getting enough light. They'll fold up at night, which is to be expected - but if they don't unfurl during the day, they aren't getting enough light. Put them under the fluorescents. If you have old windows, it may very well get too cold in the windows. If you have newer double-pane insulated glass - it may be alright, depending on room temp and how efficient the windows are. Yes, the fluorescents WILL provide some heat, but its hard to say how much. Mine are getting about 85ish under 4 bulbs hung in 2 fixtures, each about 7" wide and 4' long, in my room on the north side of the house with the heating vent closed, if I don't run the fan. However I doubt it gets or stays nearly as cold here as in Chicago. It would help to heat up, but may not be enough to keep the plants warm enough, depending on how efficient the window is. Yes, the lights must be hung. I suggest buying a 4' long wire shelf - you can get them for under $100 at Home Depot and Lowes - as wide as you can afford. Mine is 18" wide because that's all the space I had for it. 2 flats will not fit front to back on these shelves. I recommend 24" wide shelves if you can manage the space. A 3' long wire shelf will also work but you still need at least 4' of space because the lights will stick out 6" on either end, being they are 4' long. You'll just use the chains that come with the lights to hang them from each shelf. Make sure to leave enough space between shelves to raise and lower the lights as needed. If you're even minorly handy, you can build a set of shelves pretty cheaply from 2x4s. Do not use particle board or composite for shelves! Both will melt if they get wet. Use plywood or set in 2x4s spaced 4 to 6" apart. I've attached a link to instructions for a pulley system to raise and lower the lights, which I hope to implement here soon myself. This is how my dad did it back in the 50's and 60s for our very extensive grow area in the basement. I never knew how he hooked those pulleys up and he's gone now, so I was really glad to find these instructions. You CAN find and buy shorter fluorescents but they cost more. You probably CAN use the lights under your cabinet, and they would probably be fine for the low-light violets and maybe even the mimosa - but it won't be enough for the jasmine (not sure about your other plants). You would need to leave them on for 14 to 16 hours per day, which is easy if they plug into an outlet - just put the plug into a cheap timer. You can also build a tabletop contraption to hang a fixture out of 2x4s and/or plywood. If you have an empty closet you could also hang a fluorescent fixture from the clothes rod - but it needs to be more than 4' wide and you should remove the doors so it doesn't get too hot or humid. And don't hang any clothes anywhere near the lights. Better safe than sorry. It will also require a fan. You need to keep the tops of the plants as close to the fixtures as possible (except the low light plants, they should be fine, but if they show signs of needing more light, put them on a platform of some sort - upside down box or what have you - to get them closer to those undercounter lights). I aim for 1 to 2", others go for 3". So if you have plants of various heights, adjust the light for the tallest and then put the others on upside down pots or plastic boxes or what have you to raise them up closer to the lights. Here are some specific lights you might consider. 2.75" wide dual T8 32W, Lowes @$25 These lights are very narrow profile but you must wire in a plug. I just got 5 of these because with these lights I can get 10 bulbs per shelf compared to the 4 I can manage now. Use this if you need to wire in a plug: $4 15 ft TV power cord It is rated for 10 amps and the above ballast will only draw 0.8 amps peak. It will have power, ground, and neutral wires which is all you need. If you cut it (roughly) in half and add a 3 prong plug, you can actually get 2 cords out of it. You might need a pair of wire strippers though you CAN do without with a little care. Any polarized (3-prong) plug rated 125V will do. Here are 3 possiblities: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-15-Amp-125-Volt-Double-Pole-3-Wire-Grounding-Plug-Black-R50-3W101-00E/205165472 http://www.homedepot.com/p/Pass-Seymour-15-Amp-125-Volt-NEMA-5-15-Dead-Front-Straight-Blade-Plug-5276BKCC15/202664499 http://www.homedepot.com/p/Pass-Seymour-15-Amp-125-Volt-Armored-Plug-PS515PACC15/202664524 EDIT: I forgot, you will also need a strain relief clamp for each fixture, like this: Strain relief clamps I'm not sure if that's the actual correct size without eyeballing it, but that's the type of clamp you will need. It will go into the knockout at the end of the fixture where the power cord will come out and holds it so it doesn't crimp or cut over the sharp edge. Also, if you want to get away without cutting cords or stripping wire, look for a cheap power strip with a 6' or longer cord. If you disassemble the power strip you should be able to remove the power cord and it will already be stripped and you can just wire up the fixture with it pretty much as-is. I prefer the regular straight plugs so they will plug into a power strip (which I then plug into a timer) without running in to each other - some of the angled plugs will cover up nearby outlets on a power strip. You will also need wire nuts to make the connections. Electrical tape is no longer recommended for use with most modern wire nuts. You can also go to monoprice.com or cablesforless and get almost any polarized standard computer cord for this use. 6' cords can be had for under $2 each. 6' polarized cord at Monoprice END EDIT This light would be suitable for your needs and comes prewired with a plug. 5.5" wide dual T8 32W, Home Despot @ $15 These are the bulbs I use. You can of course get just 2 - I have enough lights hanging that I buy them in the 10 packs. They'll cost a little more per each. 3.33 per each in the 10 pack, about $5 per each in the 2 pack. Lowe's carries a similar Sylvania bulb that comes in a 12 pack for about the same price per each. $33 Pack of 10 - Phillips 4 ft. T8 32-Watt Daylight Deluxe (6500K) ALTO Linear Fluorescent bulbs $10 2-pack Phillips 4 ft. T8 32-Watt Daylight Deluxe (6500K) ALTO Linear Fluorescent bulbs I also listed some T5 fixtures Home Despot carries that you would have to order into the store (which is free) in a previous posting. I don't know if those come prewired with a plug or not. Fixtures and bulbs both cost about twice as much but if you're only buying one or two lights maybe that's worth it. Those do not come with a reflector (neither do the narrow profile T8 fixtures from Lowe's) but you can rig up a guerrilla reflector for one or two lights if necessary. Here is a link that might be useful: Pulley system to raise and lower fluorescent strip lights This post was edited by zensojourner on Mon, Dec 1, 14 at 18:33

> It seems as though there are 10.5W and 9.5W versions of the EcoSmart CR4 and CR6. I assume the 9.5W are newer The 575-lumen CR6 has always used 9.1 watts - that's what the government found when it was submitted for Energy Star certification - but Cree rated their lamps conservatively at 10.5w. More recently they changed the box design and now label it as 9.5w, which is still slightly more that it really uses. One thing that really has changed (other than the price dropping) as that it's now rated for use in wet locations (such as above showers) where water could splash on it. Both the box and the lamp bezel itself are so labelled. The old box design and the lamps in them were rated merely for "damp" locations (such as in a bathroom but away from the tub or shower). Again, I'm not sure whether anything has changed in the new lamps, or whether Cree (or some other entity) only recently decided they were adequately water-resistant. The CR4 has always been sold as 9.5w and unlike the CR6 remains not approved for wet locations.

Hmmmmm.... What do you like about your main floor entry lighting switches and what do you wish you could change? My entry /living room light switches are located around the corner from the front door. Yeah, it's only one step, but it makes no sense. This is a horrible, out-of-proportion image of my house. My front door is slightly recessed (to provide a bit of escape from the elements), and it opens into a small foyer ... and a formal living room to the right. The light switches to these two areas (and the exterior lights) are located AROUND THE CORNER where the red arrow points. Why? Because we have pier windows on one side of the door, there's no space left for a light switch. It's not a deal breaker by any means, but it's rather stupid design. My everyday family entrance, which is worse than the front door: The original house plan showed a two-car garage, but the people who built it "took it in" and made it into an office. It's a nice big space, which we use every day, and because it was done as a part of the original build, it doesn't have that "added on" feel ... but the builders neglected to move the light switches from their original spot. So we enter the house at the blue arrow ... and the light switches are located at the red arrow. I "fixed the problem" by buying a small accent lamp, which is never turned off, but it's not ideal. Things I love about my light switches: - I love that the top outlet in all my living room outlets are controlled by a light switch ... which means that I can turn on /off all my living room lamps (3) with one switch. In fact, I wish I had more outlets-that-control-lamps accessed by light switches, even if they only control one lamp ... it's easier to flip a wall switch than to feel for the small switches under the shade. - I love that the light switch in my master bedroom closet and my attic are "connected" ... so I never wonder whether the attic light was left on; rather, I just look at my closet, and I know. Of course, this works because my attic steps are located right next to my bedroom ... if your attic stairs are elsewhere, you could "connect" your attic light to any closet light. - I love the switch by my back door that controls outdoor outlets. So handy for Christmas lights. I wish I had these on the front of the house too. - I love that I have a motion sensored light in my walk-in pantry /laundry. I love that when my hands are full, I don't enter a dark room. And it turns itself off after something like 10 minutes. - This is a really simple one, but I have a light switch at each end of my hallway. Only one light, but controllable from two ends. Things I don't like: - I have one switch in my laundry room that turns on /off all the exterior lights around the whole house (and I have so many that I can really light up the night). I don't think I have ever used that light switch. Well, it's not so much that I don't like the light switch as it has no point; it probably cost little, but anything that isn't being used is a waste. - The light over my breakfast table and the light over my kitchen peninsula are controlled by the same switch. This means that I cannot have JUST the kitchen light or JUST the table light. - This is more about layout than light switches, but we always leave one of our master bathroom lights on at night, and the main light is positioned in such a way that the light pours straight onto my side of the bed. - We added ceiling fans to all our bedrooms, but we only have one light switch in each bedroom; thus, we have to use the pull chains to control the fan. It would be better to have two switches: One for the fan, one for the light.