I am having trouble keeping my plants alive. I just started my WF and I have already tried to put several plants and they all die soon after I place them in the WF. Yesterday I tried putting a beautiful mint plant and it died after about half an hour of being in the WF. I have tried also some Cilantro, and the same has happened. My feeling is that the window is way too cold for these plants. Could this be the reason? I have checked the PH and it is fine…the temperature of the nutrient solution is 20 C. But my beautiful plants keep dying…Can someone please help me!!!

I was thinking about ways to increase the sunlight that my plants got and I came across these cheap and effective curtains that not only reflect the light back at the plants, but hey also keep your house warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.  Let me know what you think.    http://www.wdrake.com/WalterDrake/Shopping/ProductDetail.aspx?CollectionID=DC0000359&ICMP=Search&SourceCode=20620000000&mr:trackingCode=487DF7A7-CDB9-DE11-93DB-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA

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!

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.