Question
I have houseplants placed in front of an east window that faces alot of trees which block the sun.  I would like to use artificial lights but the metal halide bulbs are too bright for my living room.  The T5 fluorescent bulbs are also very bright.  Can i put a compact fluorecent bulb in a regular lamp fixture and aim it toward my plants?  What do you recommend?  thank you

Answer
Susanne,

Your plants need the additional light during the day time hours. The lights should not be that glaring during the day. Compact fluorescent bulbs in a regular lamp fixture will not provide enough light unless each plant has it's own 60-75 watt equivalent light and that light is no more than 12 inches above the plant. Standard florescent tubes in a 2 tube fixture would be better. You could build a wooden box to attach to the ceiling and put the florescent fixture ( or 2 fixtures if you have a lot of plants) in the box and hide them with diffusers. I raise a lot of plants under florescent light in my basement. It works well. If you have more questions feel free to write again. Good luck.

Darlene