You know I tried the whole side / bottom light thing and I ditched it.

For the CFL to work they really gotta be CLOSE to the foilage.

I got way too much leaf burn than what I had anticipated.

It seems a lot easier to flood them on top with a fan blowing across than it is to side light and keep the leaves from touching them.

The fans at that point just blow the leaves into the light and every morning I had new fresh burns.

Once I removed the lights, yea, I began to lose a lot of undergrowth but that was gonna happen anyhow.

I suppose if the space is not a problem, it might work ok, but the added heat the CFL will bring requires more fan and then they just blew the leaves right on the bulbs.

OUCH!

Of course I am doing all that I am doing with a 3.75 SQ. FT. space.....

Too small for even two flowering ferns....

I need more room and less kids...

Anyhow, now that I have lost all the bottom foilage and leaf burn isn't an issue, I added the lights BACK to the setup.

I'll take and post pics tonight of how it all panned out.

HAPPY GROWING BOBBONG