> > Healthwise, no.  Electricy-bill-wise, yes.  You are going to have a VERY
> > difficult time giving your plants enough light.  You will use fluorescent
> > bulbs and lots of them right next to each other and you will want to keep
> > the bulbs within an inch of the top of the plants.  Since the plants will
> > grow, you will need to keep adjusting the lights.  As the plants get
> > larger, the bottom part of the plant will not get enough light and it will
> > elongate (this is called phototropism).  You will have a spindly plant
> > that grows fast and needs lots of support.  Whew!  Lotsa work!  It's
> > experiences like this that give you a strong appreciation of the sun!
>
> How does HID lighting like Metal Halide compare with flourescent lighting?
> I understand that it is supposed to be many times more efficient and
> require fewer fixtures.

Is that what the basement pot growers are using these days?  This is the
first I have heard of "Metal Halide", so I cannot compare.  My experiences
with lighting and plants involves stating plants in the early spring for
transplanting in the early summer.

> > If you don't want to take on this light problem full force, you might try
> > some varieties of plants that are not so light crazy and that don't grow
> > tall (like tomatoes).  How about alpine strawberries?  I think that they
> > do okay in moderate light (commercial strawberries must have full sun or
> > they taste yucky).
>
> I am interested primarily in salad type vegetables such as tomatoes,
> lettuce, spinach, onions, carrots, etc. for starters.  If that works out
> maybe some fruit.

Tomatoes will be hard.  You might try to grow the plant horizontally so
you can keep light on a majority of the plant.  They are VERY sun loving.

Lettuce, spinach and carrots might do okay under lamps.  Onions are
another sun lover, but at least they don't shade themselves much.