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Growing under Lights

Supplemental lighting for outdoor balcony

11 years ago

Hi friends,

My balcony sucks. It faces west and is in the woods. It gets some sun, but definitely not a lot. I've got my heart set on growing veggies there until I can move to a new apartment (likely July). Can I hang a 4 foot shop light from the roof of my balcony (the floor of the balcony above me) for supplemental light? Will the rain kill the fixture and/or electrocute me/my friends? Do they make outdoor/rain-proof shop light fixtures?

Thank you!

Liz

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Comments (2)

flora_uk
11 years ago
I have no idea about the electrical side of it but a couple of questions come to mind.

1. Are you allowed to screw things into the upstairs neighbour's balcony?
2. Will the neighbours be bothered by your lights blazing away in a woodland area?
3. What do you want to grow and is this the right time of year to be planting it?
edh87
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for the help! I don't know if I'm technically allowed to screw things to the ceiling... lots of other people have hanging planters, so I assume so? I'm not planning on growing anything right now, just making plans for the spring. And I hadn't thought about how neighbors might feel about a random light in the woods... It would just be during daylight hours, but probably still pretty annoying.

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