Lighting
 

Okay, I thought for a minute that I was going to lose my new dwarf cavendish but its still thriving and I think the old leaves are dying off and I do see two new leaves. But I also have a pineapple plant. I need to make it tropical for them and the other tropical fruits I'm starting like orange seeds and guava when I get it. I'm thinking of buying a brooder light and I don't know if I should get a plant light or a heat light. I know heat lamps are very hot because I used to use them with my chickens, but what about bananas and pineapples? I'm also going to be ordering a basjoo too in a week or so...so what lighting do I provide? Also, I've been putting them both in the window for as much light as I can get-(theres only one window with a good source of light, in the kitchen).

Re: Lighting
 

I can say you should look up grow lighting(s) and see what some say. If your just trying to get by and keep the alive till it gets warm on one extreme to having them grow like its summer on the other.. I think I'm somewhere in the middle using 300 watt grow lights. I keep all my bananas off the floor to keep them warmer. I keep them running 24/7 with a space heater in my garage to keep it above 60F. I do have augmenting lights I turn on during the day to supplement nature light since I have really small windows where they are located. I have pups coming up so its all good. Several guys have those clip-on mobile lights (the plug in kind w/ the heat sheild) and put grow lights in them since you can attach them to almost anything and you can direct them as you wish to light something up (like a nanner).. I hope that helps :^)

Re: Lighting
 

Metal Halide (MH) will be the best lighting you can get for plants. Many other lights simply don't have the correct color blend of light to be conducive to plant growth. Heat lamps would work great for keeping a plant warm in a cold room or something, but it's probably too much heat and not enough of the right type of light. (yeah, believe it or not, there are 'types' of light which depend on the band of wavelengths (color basically) that the bulb emits) Generally speaking (beyond plants), incandescent bulbs have a very wide color band and tend more toward the red/yellow end of the spectrum. Fluorescent bulbs tend more toward the blue/violet end of the spectrum. LED's have a very narrow color spectrum as do lasers (which are even MORE narrow...a single wavelength typically).

Re: Lighting
 

Okay, so I need to provide heat and check the lights. I wish I still had these little heaters I used to have, I could have used that for them. I'm living in a brick house, so its cooler inside than out and the weather keeps flip flopping but it should stabilize now but it'll soon start raining and will still be cold rain. I've been rotating the plants from the kitchen table to the top of my desk. I don't have a garage or seperate area to close off and make tropical, so I'll have to provide make the kitchen area the growing area.