overwintering alocasias

From: Leslie Georgeson <skinnychick2 at yahoo.com> on 2004.08.16 at 19:23:25(11999) Since this seems to be a topic quite a few people are interested in, just thought I'd share what I do. I lived in the northwest until about a year ago, and now I live in the HOT south where there is 0% humidity except during monsoons. I've never had to force any plants into dormancy. My solution is simple: I installed a humidifier (Vornado 4 gallon output--about $60) in a small bedroom with a south-facing window, along with two fans and florescent lighting, then moved all the plants into this specially equipped "plant room." It doesn't cost that much to run the lights or the humidifier and the plants love it. The humidity never drops below 69% and the air is constantly circulated. The only problem I have is when they start growing into the ceiling. Occasionally I do get mites, but since I check the plants on a daily basis, the problem is always resolved ASAP and is never allowed to escalate to the point of destruction. Just an idea... How much do you love your plants? Leslie +More __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

From: "Philippe" <valphy at club.lemonde.fr> on 2004.08.16 at 22:08:28(12001) Leslie, All this sounds good. But does fluorescent light cover all the spectrum needed by plants? I don't know anything about this, so I guess it's a question to everybody else. Is fluorescent light adequate for growing plants? +More Philippe

From: Leslie Georgeson <skinnychick2 at yahoo.com> on 2004.08.17 at 13:52:54(12009) Phillipe, It is my understanding that florescent lighting alone is not always positive for plants, but it is the closest thing to natural sunlight. The best ones for plants are numbers 22, 25, 32, 33, and 36. However, my plants are in a room with a large, south-facing window and the room gets plenty of natural sunlight in addition to the florescent bulbs. This additional light supplement helps those that are farthest from the window to be sure they get enough light. Since each new leaf is always larger and more beautiful than the last, and even my finicky alocasias are producing infloresences, I figure they all must be happy. Lighting has never been a problem, it's the humiditry that I had to struggle with, and once the humidifier was installed, everyone was happier. I may even have extra alocasia seeds to spare in the near future. Good growing, Leslie +More Philippe wrote: Leslie, All this sounds good. But does fluorescent light cover all the spectrum needed by plants? I don't know anything about this, so I guess it's a question to everybody else. Is fluorescent light adequate for growing plants? Philippe __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

From: "plantsman" <plantsman at prodigy.net> on 2004.08.18 at 02:08:35(12016) > Philippe wrote: > Leslie, > > All this sounds good. But does fluorescent light cover all the spectrum > needed by plants? I don't know anything about this, so I guess it's a > question to everybody else. Is fluorescent light adequate for growing > plants? +More > Philippe > > > __________________________________________________ When I used to grow a lot of orchids under lights (20 yrs. ago), I used a combination of cool white fluorescents alternating in the fixture with Gro-Light fluorescents bulbs. I'd just used the cheap shop light that you can buy at Home Depot or Lowe's and lined them with aluminum foil. I'd heard from another grower that the combination of bulbs more approximated the fuller wavelengths of daylight. I know it worked well with the orchids, even the ones that got no exposure to daylight. The whole trick to it was to bring the fixture down so that the bulbs were within three inches of the leaves/flowers. This gave maximum light exposure without the risk of burning them. My two cents... David Sizemore Kingsport, TN (Zone 6a)

From: hermine <hermine at endangeredspecies.com> on 2004.08.18 at 03:14:33(12017)

From: "Bryant, Susan L." <SLBryant at scj.com> on 2004.08.18 at 12:05:59(12019) Hmmm, we have a light box at work with 5-300K bulbs. I wonder what they would do to a plant.... Susan +More > __________________________________________________ When I used to grow a lot of orchids under lights (20 yrs. ago), I used a combination of cool white fluorescents alternating in the fixture with Gro-Light fluorescents bulbs. I'd just used the cheap shop light that you can buy at Home Depot or Lowe's and lined them with aluminum foil. I'd heard from another grower that the combination of bulbs more approximated the fuller wavelengths of daylight. I know it worked well with the orchids, even the ones that got no exposure to daylight. The whole trick to it was to bring the fixture down so that the bulbs were within three inches of the leaves/flowers. This gave maximum light exposure without the risk of burning them. My two cents... David Sizemore Kingsport, TN (Zone 6a)

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