digitS'
Garden Master
Of course.
I was reading in a fairly recent fact sheet from Purdue (click) that only 10% to 20% of the commercial greenhouses in the northern US have supplemental lighting. Don't have a greenhouse? What about a house window? The answer would have to be, "Perhaps."
The Purdue pdf file has little information on veggies but one can imagine that they would fall in with the Marigolds and such bedding plants (they do say something about Capsicum peppers) rather than ferns or even Impatiens. The light requirements for proper growth are high.
Purdue is talking about whether a greenhouse should install "supplemental" lighting. Several decades ago, I worked at a commercial greenhouse which added supplemental lighting while I was there. The primary crop was cut flowers and the flower holidays, if you think about them, are nearly all during the months when there is limited sunlight. The extra light made quite a difference for Christmas and Valentine production, as you might imagine.
Okay, back to that south window . . . You can look at the maps for the natural light during various months. This is March . . .
. Here are some maps that make it a little easier to see what is going on now and what has been going on during the time gardeners are sowing seed for plant starts:
http://www.gpnmag.com/sites/default/files/supplementallighting.pdf
As you can see, the author is essentially saying that throughout nearly all of the US during March, natural light should provide everything that is necessary for proper growth. Unfortunately, I live in 1 of those 2 red blotches :/ where supplemental lighting would provide a (not small, but) moderate help.
Cloudy weather at this time of year is a source of annual frustration . . . I will be dragging an 8' light fixture into the greenhouse if what is going on currently continues much longer. But, until the plants are actually in the greenhouse, seedlings are showing up in a south window here indoors. Fortunately, it is large. The tree nearby is a deciduous and will not leaf-out until late April. There is also NO roof eave close to this window.
Do you need to grow under a light? Probably not if you live where you are "in the clear" on those maps! And, if you have a window like mine. BTW, I've taken the screen off of it and cleaned the glass, inside and out, a few days ago.
Don't push the plants with too much heat. That may be difficult in a south window but if you can isolate the room from room temperature in the rest of the house, that may help. Those commercial greenhouses are generally growing plants in temperatures as much as 10 cooler than the 70F most of us like to keep our homes.
Steve
I was reading in a fairly recent fact sheet from Purdue (click) that only 10% to 20% of the commercial greenhouses in the northern US have supplemental lighting. Don't have a greenhouse? What about a house window? The answer would have to be, "Perhaps."
The Purdue pdf file has little information on veggies but one can imagine that they would fall in with the Marigolds and such bedding plants (they do say something about Capsicum peppers) rather than ferns or even Impatiens. The light requirements for proper growth are high.
Purdue is talking about whether a greenhouse should install "supplemental" lighting. Several decades ago, I worked at a commercial greenhouse which added supplemental lighting while I was there. The primary crop was cut flowers and the flower holidays, if you think about them, are nearly all during the months when there is limited sunlight. The extra light made quite a difference for Christmas and Valentine production, as you might imagine.
Okay, back to that south window . . . You can look at the maps for the natural light during various months. This is March . . .
. Here are some maps that make it a little easier to see what is going on now and what has been going on during the time gardeners are sowing seed for plant starts: http://www.gpnmag.com/sites/default/files/supplementallighting.pdf
As you can see, the author is essentially saying that throughout nearly all of the US during March, natural light should provide everything that is necessary for proper growth. Unfortunately, I live in 1 of those 2 red blotches :/ where supplemental lighting would provide a (not small, but) moderate help.
Cloudy weather at this time of year is a source of annual frustration . . . I will be dragging an 8' light fixture into the greenhouse if what is going on currently continues much longer. But, until the plants are actually in the greenhouse
, seedlings are showing up in a south window here indoors. Fortunately, it is large. The tree nearby is a deciduous and will not leaf-out until late April. There is also NO roof eave close to this window.Do you need to grow under a light? Probably not if you live where you are "in the clear" on those maps! And, if you have a window like mine. BTW, I've taken the screen off of it and cleaned the glass, inside and out, a few days ago
.Don't push the plants with too much heat. That may be difficult in a south window but if you can isolate the room from room temperature in the rest of the house, that may help. Those commercial greenhouses are generally growing plants in temperatures as much as 10 cooler than the 70F most of us like to keep our homes.
Steve
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