I'm thinking to put the trees under a grow light but as I work a lot , I cannot be always beside them, so my plan is

03:00 am - 07:15 am grow light
07:15 am - 19:00 pm natural as much as winter clouds will allow
19:00 pm - 01:00 am grow light

well now my problem is that I can not let the lights during the time when I am not at home , due to a device risk on overheating (fire), so is this a good schedule with the lights so the trees are not going crazy with the lights being more powerfull on grow lights and lower on the natural light during the normal lenght of winter day?

Next year I will move them in the basement , but now I want to keep them inside.

The grow lights are Osram / Fluora + 2 x Biolux per shelf



hopefully is good english

nobody?

I don't understand the names that you call your lights. If they are common florescent lights, they need to be within 2 inches (5 cm) of the tree's foliage. When I light my trees, I leave the lights on so that the tree receives 15 total hours of light (day light + artificial light). In Colorado the winter sun sets around 4:30 PM (16:30). Therefore, at 16:30 I turn on my HID light, and turn it off at 10:30PM (22:30) which is the time I go to bed. I always us HID lights. I also warm the root zone. This normally give the trees 5 growth flushes per year. -Millet (842-)

http://www.osram.com/osram_com/Professionals/General_Lighting/Fluorescent_lamps/Products/T8/Special_lamps_T8/FLUORA/index.html

http://www.osram.com/osram_com/Professionals/General_Lighting/Fluorescent_lamps/Products/T8/Special_lamps_T8/BIOLUX/index.html

ok so the best way is to stop on sunrise no matter of the sun power (light/clouds) and start at sundown so that I get 15 hours of light ,right? (isn't too much )

I know that citruses need only 1/3 fof the sun light , but using fluorescent light what is the aprox. lumen power needed for them at 20 C (68-70F) in order to make a balance between the light provided combined with the soil temp meaning that I don't want the soil to be too warm for the few lights I have or viceversa to much light for that temperature.

I'm a little confused here , some say that is better with low temp but also low light , some say the opposite


Using HID light is not my choise because of the big bill that I will receive but also they are very hot after a few hours of use and my selves are made of PVC, so it is a little dangerous.

The only thing that scares me is the WLD , as long as I pass throw the winter with no WLD , I say that is ok without any growth flush, hoping that CHC will help me on that, right?
Thank you so much

I made a mix of the 2 biolux with one fluora and it seems that is ok now.
Still have some thoughts on how can I determine the air/soil mix temp. at this level of light,as someone said "As the root temp drop so the light level sould do also..."

Any suggestions?

Try a heat mat under the pots to keep the roots warm.

they have 21 C in the middle , and it is CHC so somehow it is a little bit warmer beside regular soil mix and they are in the house and not in greenhouse and I've started the central heating

At 21C (70F) root temperature, and with your central heating on, most any reasonable amount of light on the foliage should fine. There should be nothing to worry about. In fact with enough heat and light your tree could continue to produce growth flushes through the fall and winter months. On my Marisol Clementine tree, I artificially heated the soil to 78F -80F (25C -27C) during the fall and winter, plus lighted the foliage with a HD lamp from sundown to 10:30 PM, so that the tree received 15 hours of light per day, the tree produced five growth flushes in one year. The best of luck with your tree this winter. - Millet (827-)

thx millet

Danero, the citruses need not additional light when the temperature is below +8 C. You should decrease the temperatre to range +5 +8 C.

well this is very well known , but they are inside my apartment so if they will do fine , I will freeze inside at 12 C

I'm thinking building the same tranch for the winter

Millet under these condition , is it possible to see new leaves growing?

I mean at 70F air/soil under the current light conditions.


I brought them inside a little later in order to have the natural ligjht as much as possible and a few leaves have dropped since then and I hoping for some replacement .

Danero, i think your light bulbs so far away from the leaves. The distance beetween this lamps and leaves should be atleast 20-30 cm.

If you want more efficient use of the light get large mylar sheet and surround that shelf. It'll reflect more of the light that is not heading straight for the plant