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You are browsing the archive for low light.

North facing window

11:19 pm in Getting Started, Plants, questions, Seeking Advice by Emily Schulman

I am currently setting up my first windowfarm, and only have North facing windows.  Does anyone have suggestions of plants that have done well in low light conditions?  OR, is it necessary for me to add lamps?

Thanks!  I’m really excited to get started!

by britta

Growing with CFL bulbs

12:13 pm in electronic components, Getting Started, Materials and Resources, Plants by britta

You can grow edible plants with 100 or 150 watt CFL bulbs. Even fruiting plants. I have done it successfully in several windowfarm systems. You must use CFLs with the proper color spectrum. The “daylight” bulbs you get at Home Depot in the blue package work. Arrange your plants so they are no more than a few inches from the light. You will need to move them frequently or they will grow into the light and singe themselves. I highly recommend putting them in a window so they are also getting at least some indirect natural light because I highly doubt that these CFLs really provide the complete spectrum of light that plants need. You can put them on a timer so that they are only on a few hours during the day to supplement natural light. This keeps them from blinding you at night.

Until plants reach the adult phase, they require more light. I generally supplemented seedlings light for 18 hours per day. Then, once they reached maturity, I decreased to 12 hours.