How quickly the area fills.

Plants are all inside now. I have added 9 more lights since my last post. I have cataract surgery next Tuesday. I am telling myself to put off taking any pictures until my vision has settled down. Will post some pictures of the light set ups then. All my visitors comment on how tropical it is in here. Yes, I keep the heat and humidity up during winter. Not only good for my plants but also good for my health and the furniture, etc. Not to mention I am sitting in sunlight = anti SAD. Gene

Lucillle said:Gene, this is my living room we are talking about. lol.

white board inside the burlap?

Before you said it Gene, I was thinking- No SAD there! No wonder it's so refreshing to go look at even a light-shelf-full of coleus cuttings in January. It has me rethinking my use of light in winter- we all got browbeaten with energy savings in the 70s. We have changed maybe half the general purpose indoor lights to LED or CFL. And it takes forever to use up (burn out) the supply of old bulbs.

Give the old bulbs to Goodwill. Get newer, more efficient LED lights.

Just did a count and I have been cutting back. Oops, a pun? I count pots not plants.. In windows or under lights = 701. In my cold rooms where the cactus and large succulents are dormant = 79.

OK, one room with lights and plants, etc. I call it my office. Sure floor plans would have called it Din. Rm. About 12' x 12'. I added large window and made some of the walls white with wallpaper. Brightens up the dark room. Start with non-plants. Some of my rock collection. One of 4 shelves full of Rubik's. North wall is a nice 6' x 2' wire shelf. Some poster board for reflection (efficiency) and to keep lights out of my eyes when I sit at my desk. Top shelf is mostly Sansevieria. Bottom shelf other succulents. Then SW corner of room. Then 5' x 5' window. Then my desk and what it looks like when you walk in. Hope I have the pix in the right order - if not, you will figure it out I am sure. Gene

I swear you have more house plants than our nursery had!

Hey, that is only one small room. I counted pots the other day and came up with 789 I think it was.

Some tips on hanging your new lights. The old T5 HO fixtures I hung with electric fence wire. Great stuff to have on hand in general. I buy 1/4 mile spools at the local "farm" store. Good for whatever you need wire for around the house or in the garden. Sturdy aluminum wire. I am talking about support, hanging, wrapping not conducting elec. Hanging bird feeders. Have some in your car for emergency repairs. Wire is overkill for these new lightweight lights. I first tried duct tape and then "scotch" tape, neither lasts. I use electric tape. I never buy black electric tape. I prefer white mostly. Once in a while red. White for refectory and blending into the household environment. You cannot write on black tape. You can use your Sharpie on white tape. Make labels = cut a piece 8" long. Start it at the power cord and go out 3" and fold it back onto itself to the cord. Instant label. At your multi surge outlet you can all the cords labeled with what they go to - fan, computer, TV, radio, etc. Very handy. When you hang the lights with white elec. tape do not just wrap the light around the fixture and then attach to the shelf. Won't last. Make sure you use a long piece and have the tape go around everything at least twice. Tape to tape holds. The lights themselves do not get hot and so don't mind having tape on them. Gene

Here is what I call the breezeway. Small passage way between the kitchen and the laundry room, garage. Mix of tropical and Sans. On the east side are 2 x 3 foot shelves. Last year lower shelf covered by one 4 foot light. The new lights come with connectors so you can plug lights together. So now a 4 foot and a 2 foot light there. Some reflectors. On the top 4 foot shelf west side I added 2 lights. Less than optimally efficient - lights in a window. But, we do have lots of gloomy days. Nice thing about lights on a timer is that they are always there. Plants appreciate that. This year both sides wired one timer, out where I can see it and reach it. Good for power failures and DST. Gene

Don't you just love B&W tile floors? I do and I know some do not. Did this one myself when I first moved in. I really wanted to lay it on the bias but I am no tile installation expert. Cannot imagine how many pictures, movies and such where I have seen B&W tile floors.

The breezeway looks real nice, needs a few more plants. I like B&W checkerboard floors, my kitchen had one before I did another remodel. Laying on the bias is not difficult. It takes a little layout and snapping chalklines as guides. Still, your floor looks just fine as is, very nice.

Thanks. More plants? Part of me wishes for more and the practical part of me says less.

That is quite a Rubik's Cube collection, Gene. How long have you been collecting them? Are you fast at solving them?

Thanks. I know how to solve them but am not good or fast at it. I cannot believe some of the world's speed records. I do not buy them anymore. Sort of an investment for the future and/or a conversation piece for visitors. My favorite is probably the calendar cube. A desk item. You have to twist it each morning to show the current date. Duh. It might take me all day to accomplish that. Next are the blank cubes. Cubes that have all the same tiles on all sides. One is called the Boring Cube. The Stupid Cube. Then the advertising cubes. Often given out as door prizes at conventions. I have Coke, Pepsi, Texaco, Budapest Airport, Google, Avon, Manchester United, Snickers, Groton's fish, McDonalds, Xbox, Cadburys, Samsung, GE, eBay, the modern Museum of Art, the NY subway system, Snickers, Dairy Queen., and something like 200 others. I have 5 cubes that were only ever for sale in Estonia. ETC.

It sounds like you have a lot of great ones. I was the same way. I could solve, but not quickly at all. I think I read some can do it in 4 seconds.

I hope they end up a good investment for you. I've collected a lot of things that aren't worth what I paid for them years ago.

I probably have a house full of "not worth what I paid for" things.

Gene:
    I'm new to this thread (redirected here from another listing), but have been using 4' shoplights (T5 and LED) for growing seedlings for many years. I would suggest that wire lamp chain is a better choice for hanging the fixtures than aluminum wire. It allows you to easily adjust the height of the fixture above the plants as they grow by supporting the chain from a different link.
@gasrocks

I do not use wire to hang my new lams. I use white elec. tape. Years of experience says not to move the lights up and down. Too much work and inefficient. I put stands, empty pots, tin cans under the different plants to keep them close to the lights. That way I can have different height plants under one light with each as close as possible to the light. Plants do not grow at the same rate. Adjustable lighting is no answer. Gene