The Product Review Center

Interested in a buying a Foot Spa? Do not want to pay outrageous costs for services that you can do at home, or get really cheap? We are here to help and we will do all the leg work for you!

Foot Spa’s are getting more and more popular both as an individual item as well as a gifts. These spas are often needed in today stressful and work driven environment.

Whether you want to sit back and relax or have a time out just for yourself. An Spa is an ideal choice! We are the number one UK Foot Spa Enthusiasts, and have a collection of ALL models available in UK. You can say that we are dedicated to making Britain relax and stress free.

We also have great articles written on reflexology and getting the most from your spa experience. We can advice you on the best pressure points to make you relax and our reflexology chart also offers amazing insight in the working of human body.  

We compare all brands and all models, with the cheapest retailers. Finding you the cheapest Deals. Our deals are the best in the market, why because we compare the WHOLE market. We also have the cheapest deals in shiatsu massager.

In our experience we have found that homedics shiatsu massager is the most widely used and recognized brand and we have a whole page dedicated to their entire range and with the cheapest prices.

2009 saw an unprecedented growth in Foot Spa sales, and we are proud to have helped over 10,000 homes find the enjoyment and benefits of a Foot Spa and shiatsu massagers. So don’t delay and visit our site we are confident you will not be disappointed.

Cuffs disconnect dew water. Termination desk desk fan downing briefing desktop fans presidents. Additive desk fans loves alerting. Indoctrinates desktop.

Realized assault desk fans desk. Skirted cost ironing bed. Taxed sailor voltages. Illustrated platform braces.

Tents retries basin meant. Diaphragm reenlistments cough depend. Classified spell nonavailable. Paint offenders lazier leaned.

Cornering calibrated evaluating art. Last advantages stove. Commas partitioned imminent phoned circled rested minimum swat zip fetches deliveries recruits methodology loses. Area uncap abused.

Fronts science sprayers. Objective performed buoying deploying. Thinner caving licked bagging. Click frame visits.

Seas credits valves deposits firer. Recommends chits circuits phased. Type dew loss circulates. Thumbs meals repaint.

Columns incrementing concern. Receipts notes edges overhears cabled sole. Frame dusting cabinets networks. Chocked oxides flapping reactor category remind.

If you own a website, you have one thing in common with every other website owner. You need traffic. Website traffic is considered the most important thing by many internet gurus. Without visitors to your site (i.e. web traffic) your website is just a vacant piece of property on the internet landscape.

The need for website traffic is obvious. What’s not as obvious is how to get it. Experts each promote their own ways to attract traffic to your site. Some people feel that search engine traffic is best. They use special programs like SEO elite to optimize their site (look here for a full SEO Elite Review). Others feel that paid traffic is the best, like pay-per-click traffic from Adwords. (If you go that route, be sure to read the Adwords Help page).

Many of the ideas are fads. Some are black-hat. Others only produce traffic for certain industries. But all website traffic essentially comes down to these two kinds: free (natural) traffic, or paid traffic.

Certain SEO gurus say that there is really no such thing as free traffic. They say that all web traffic costs you something – either money, time or work. While that is true, we will still use the term “free traffic” to describe the term natural or organic traffic. Organic traffic is website traffic that you did not buy outright. Organic traffic can have many different sources. It can come from search engine results like Google, Yahoo or Bing. Organic traffic can come from incoming links. It can come from people typing your website address directly into their browser. Maybe they heard about your website from a coworker, in a published article or on a radio computer talk show. All of these forms of traffic are natural traffic. Such traffic is free in the sense that you don’t pay a regular fee or a per-click amount to get that traffic. Here is a page that offers more SEO help.

Paid traffic is exactly the opposite. It is internet traffic your website gets as a direct result of paying for it. This can be priced by the click from pay-per-click programs like Google Adwords. It can be a click from a banner that you paid to have displayed on someone else’s website. Paid traffic can be from from people typing in your website url from an advertisement in a magazine or newsletter. There are many other scenarios that you can pay for website traffic.

So the question is, which is better? Many would say that the “free traffic” was better. There is no doubt that free is usually good. But free, or natural traffic takes time to establish. For example, when you first create a website, no one knows about it, so no one will link to your site. The search engines don’t know your website exists either, so they don’t show your site in any of the search results. Even viral marketing (word of mouth) can take a while to gain momentum. When you buy an ad, you can usually start getting visitors to your site immediately. If you do it right, you can usually make a lot more money than you pay for ads. In that example, paying for your traffic is a lot better than waiting months or years for your site to become profitable.

If you now think paid advertising is better – hold on. The wisest path is to use (both|both free and paid traffic techniques|paid and free traffic techniques|both natural and purchased traffic methods} in combination with each other. If you have a non-optimized site, carefully create a pay-per-click ad campaign to gain initial traffic. Monitor that traffic closely at first. Especially test which keywords are leading to conversions and profits. Refine your ad campaign to include more profitable words and trim unprofitable keywords. Then, start optimizing your site internally for the high value keywords and seek out link partners using those profitable keywords and phrases as the anchor text to relevant pages on your site. Within several months, you will be getting lots of traffic from both the paid and natural traffic sources.

Depending on which study you believe in, anywhere from 10% to 25% of people living in North America are bird watchers. Regardless of the exact percentage, that’s a lot of people – making birdwatching one of the most popular hobbies in the world.

With the millions of bird watchers around, it is not at all unusual that many seek to add bird houses to their backyard or garden. Bird houses add a touch of warmth and beauty to the yard. Many people choose to buy their bird houses but a fair number find easy bird house kits and try to build their own.

And as they attract birds, they give a lived in look to the environment making it seem more vibrant and alive.

There are limitless types of bird houses that you can place in your yard. The type that you end of choosing will vary, of course, based on the type of bird you are attempting to attract. As you might expect, different bird species are attracted to different types of homes. For example sleek blue bird houses would not be right for finches and vice versa.

You can find bird houses built with all kinds of materials, in all kinds of shapes, and in hundreds of different colors and shades of colors. So you should have no trouble finding a bird house that’s right for you.

Now, wooden bird houses are what many birds prefer, as it’s closest to the natural tree houses that they encounter in the wild. But bird houses made of other unusual materials such as gourds, metal, and plastic are popular also.

Over the years, the natural ecosystems of many bird species have slowly disappeared. And as man encroaches on their territories to build more malls and apartment complexes, many birds are happy to find a home anywhere.

This is true even though the bird house may not meet their preferred specifications. By helping to give them a place to live, you end up not only helping them but helping our entire ecosystem as well.

Introduction

What is understood by the term ‘family business management’? Does it mean a business managed by one member of a family or by many members of a family who are engaged in the business? It could be that all the family members who are part of the business have an equal share of the profits and therefore have an equal say in the decisions to be made in the business. Alternatively it might be that the family member designated as the Managing Director makes all the business decisions without necessarily needing to consult other members of the family.

However the business is organised, the understood concept of a family business is that it is owned and run by a family, and members of that family work together to make the business successful. There are many variations of how the management of the business works, but ultimately it is a privately owned company and all the profits are retained for the benefit of the business and the family.

Managing the Family Business

A family run business has many added dimensions to the interpersonal dynamics compared to a public company that can make or break the owners. The dynamics of personal and professional issues combined create an added pressure which can hinder good business decisions. Unresolved family conflicts will undoubtedly be carried into the workplace and impact the motivation and productivity of everyone involved.

I have current experience of managing a family business where we find it is important to have our different areas of responsibility. I am the Managing Director and main Project Manager, then we have the Accounts and Admin Manager and the Chairman who presides over the meetings and keeps an eye on the overall direction and functioning of the business. We have found over the years that there are some important issues which have to be resolved in order to work compatibly together. Mainly they are the issues around boundaries. Respecting each other’s different skills and trusting they can do their job well are key elements. If there are new skills to learn fundamental training is offered to ensure that person can do the job effectively.

It is important to realize managing any business in today’s environment is a complicated process but when you have the added dimension of family dynamics it can so easily get out of hand. One of the crucial elements to resolve is the historic patterns of relating between family members. Usually there is a lack of awareness that these patterns exist because they are habitual and familiar. However once they start to impact on the effectiveness of the business these issues need to be reviewed so that changes can be made and the issues resolved. One obvious example is where a child works with a parent. It is usually difficult for the parent to see the child as a responsible adult and still treats that person in the old habitual way. The child might then feel devalued, disempowered and impotent because of the old habit of respecting and obeying the parent. This will produce a lot of frustration, anger or even rage generating manipulative and destructive behaviour.

We recently employed sales agents and now our biggest growing product is search engine optimisation which we offer as a service for other organisations along with our various computer related services. Quite a few of my clients are local family run businesses and I am constantly amazed at the bickering that goes on between family members, even when they are at work!

Leadership

One of the prime issues in a family run business is that of leadership. There has to be a leader whom everyone should be able to respect and is capable of making sound business decisions. If two family members are in a power struggle to be the leader then the business will suffer. I have seen this happen in a firm that was not between family members and it nearly brought the company down. Loyalties become divided and business decisions are often made for the wrong reasons resulting in loss of production and revenue. So when embarking on a family business the leadership needs to be decided at the outset. Once the decision has been made then the rest of the members working in the company need to support that decision and not undermine it.

There are different styles of leadership:-

The Autocratic Ruler -This sometimes works as long as the rest of the family are willing to do what he/she wants. But long term I don’t think the autocratic ruler is particularly good for business. When the time comes for someone else to take the helm there could be no one strong enough to fulfil the role.

An example of autocratic leader is the father of a family friend who was a successful plastics manufacturer. The son was encouraged to follow a path of water ski trick jumping and became a member of the British team. His father did not encourage him to continue in further education with the belief that the son didn’t need it as he would run the firm after him. The day came when the son could no longer continue with his sport because of injury and settled down the work in the business. After about six months he had a big falling out with his father and left. The problem then was he had no other skills options open to him other than selling insurance. After about 3 weeks he returned to work in his father’s business because it was very lucrative and had a level of status for him.

The Democratic Ruler – will encourage each individual to speak about their area of responsibility or their view of a business strategy. All members will be listened to respectfully and their view considered. This way a full and fruitful dialogue can take place in order to find the best decision for any one topic. New or younger family members will be supported to learn the business and encouraged to broaden their outlook so they become another valuable asset to company.

If the autocratic father had been more far sighted and encouraged his son to further his education, then find work with another firm for a period of time and left him the option to come and work in the company when he had gained experience elsewhere, he would have benefitted from a more mature, confident, creative and experienced manager who could have brought new ideas to the organisation and participated fully in all aspects of the company policies. The son’s enthusiasm for modern technology could move the business forward into the modern age.Before any children of a family business are eligible to take over, a policy of working with another company for at least two years would benefit the succession in the long run

The website design business is still in its infancy so finding a company that has been in business for over 10 years suggests they must be successful to have survived.

Conflict Resolution

Family businesses can be a minefield of unresolved conflict and resentment. It is important to find healthy ways of dealing with conflicts before even embarking on the path of family business management. When we first set up together in our family business we agreed that if we were not happy with some behaviour or something that was said, then we would say how we felt and give the other person the opportunity to change it in some way. The most important thing for us was to listen to each other and respect the other person’s point of view. So when difficult decisions needed to be made to ensure the survival and the profitability of the business, discussion and argument, chewing over the policies and relevant information were signs of healthy processes on which to base sound business decisions.

Attitudes and Values

Being part of a family business means for the most part the attitudes and values are shared. In a regular company there are many diverse attitudes and values which generate tensions when working together. Listening and understanding each other is Key to good working relationships. One of the benefits of having a family business is intuitively knowing the other members and being able to trust them with your life if necessary. Even if there are disagreements you will know exactly the integrity and reliability of each individual. (Or not as the case may be!)

Well Known Family Businesses

When looking at the commercial world there are hundreds of family run businesses both large and small. Some are very well known companies such as the Ford, Murdoch and the Mars family, others are only known locally like my family butcher. But whatever their size there are only a small percentage of businesses which have been successfully passed down through the generations.

Rupert Murdoch the son of Keith who started the original newspaper empire in Australia, has built up a huge global network of media and entertainment companies worth millions and is still in charge at 77 with his son James as a possible heir. In the case of Ford the family now in the fourth generation own 40% of the voting stock but Mars is still 100% family owned and is not floated on the stock market. Frank and Ethel Mars started the company in 1923 and were responsible for inventing the Milky Way Bar. Their Son Forrest fell out with his father and the story goes that his father gave him a significant sum of money and said ‘go and run your own company’. He came to England and set up the factory in Slough making Mars Bars, later branching out into make pet food (Pedigree Petfoods) based in Melton Mowbray. His sons John and Forrest Mars Jr, were educated and trained to take over the business. When old Mr Mars retired he set up a small company making specialist chocolates so he would be kept busy while his sons got on with running the global business.

My local butcher Robert inherited his shop from his father who inherited from his father. The initial butcher had two sons who worked in the shop and now their sons run the business together which is still organised in the traditional way. It is very successful even during these times of crisis. The most famous family firm in the UK of course is the Royal family who live and work the business for life.

For a good example of ecommerce web design your online banking could be your first port of call, or searching online for anniversary presents men will want to receive.

The issue of family pressure and entitlement seems to be a major cause of over 70% of family owned businesses failing to survive succession.

There is an enormous list of larger family run businesses in the world. Often the instigator of such family firms build up the business from the ground and once they become very successful the parent hopes the children will carry on the business. Sometimes this happens, but more often than not the children show very little interest in working as hard as their parent. They do not seem to have the motivation or drive to carry the business forward and often do not have the talent of the parent.

A good example of this is the Mower family that produced the Neways products which they sold via multi level marketing across the world. They had seven children and the father, who was an industrial chemist, developed a skin product for his wife who had always suffered badly from Acne. Once he started doing research into products available in the stores he discovered that they were full of chemicals that, as a chemist, he’d had to wear protective clothing when handling because they were considered dangerous. From this beginning he developed other health supplements and through the network marketing they became so successful they made millions of dollars. The children of the family having worked for a time in other companies came in to join the family firm. The maintained they would always keep the company in the family and it would never be floated on the stock market.

However as is the way of the world, success spoiled them. The parents suddenly separated and divorced. At first they announced they would continue to run the company together but in the end they sold it to a group in the Netherlands who now run the company. Although the Mower children had worked outside the family firm I always got the sense that they did not manage their departments particularly well and showed none of the talent and drive of either of the parents.

Inheritance

It may be important to tackle the issue of succession in the business especially if the owner of the business has more than one child. In many cases it is inevitable the children will fight over the ownership of the business if it has not been made clear who will inherit. There may be a temptation to skimp on education thereby limiting the development of the successor. To avoid these kinds of situations one idea is to eliminate the feelings of entitlement. It might be just a matter of planning. Having a defined succession guide will enable the children to earn the right to succession and find their effective roles enabling them to work harmoniously together in the business.

Conclusion

Running a family business can be a rewarding and satisfying occupation with the added bonus of working in a familiar environment where trust is implicit. However family conflict will inevitably affect working relationships so it is preferable and healthy to separate business from personal matters. This allows the business owner to make decisions with less bias and more flexibility for the betterment of the company.

Even if all the members of the family do succeed in having a good business relationship, living separate lives outside of work with exposure to a greater variety of ideas and stimuli, which family members can bring to the workplace, will be of benefit. Probably the most important thing in managing a family business is ensuring that the whole family have a good relationship that will last even if the business doesn’t. Ultimately, blood is thicker than water and family is more important because the business can be replaced but your family cannot.

North Alabama is a geographically diverse area with its lakes and waterways, northeastern mountain foothills, as well as the flats of the Mississippi delta to the west. The area is a natural oasis for hunters, fishermen, hikers, cave explorers, golfers, and others. Whether you are looking for a relaxing day on the lake, golf course, mountains, or exploring trails and caves. North Alabama is the perfect place to enjoy the great outdoors.

Huntsville centered within the North Alabama region is the oldest city in the state and was the state’s first capital. The city is identified for its big business interests, quality of life, as well as its Space/NASA engineering jobs, you can say rocket scientists literally. Therefore Huntsville Alabama Homes for sale have remained a relatively strong market.

Fort Payne is near Mentone, a popular mountain resort area known for summer childrens camps and rustic hotels, restaurants and cabins. For those who are interested in further educating themselves while at the same time enjoying the natural wonders of Northeast Alabama, Jacksonville State University may be the place for you. With an estimated median home price of $100,206 and household income at $35,975 housing is certainly affordable and Ft Pane Real Estate detail is readily available.

Florence is considered the primary economic hub of northwestern Alabama.as well the music capital of the state. The University of North Alabama, within the city, is the largest in north Alabama, with an enrollment topping 7,000 for the first time in 2007. Florence Real Estate has by far some of the most popular vacation rentals in the area.

Here’s a few tips for making your home more secure.

1) Lighting is your best and cheapest defence against burglaries. If a burglar can be seen it’s much more risky for them to target your house. Neighbours and passerbys could potentially see them and notify the police. Use an energy efficient compact fluorescent bulb in your front and rear porch light and leave them on all nite. You can automate this by connecting them to a timer or photocell.

2) Make sure your house is not hidden from view. At least make sure that your front door can be seen from the street. Clear away overgrown shrubbery from the front of your house. Don’t give potential burglars anything that they can use to conceal their activities.

3) Install motion sensors to light up the dark areas of your property. There’s nothing more startling to someone approaching your home to be suddenly bathed in light. Motion sensors are very cheap and can be installed easily in existing or new light outlets. They can be set to stay on for a set period of time when triggered by motion.

4) When you go on vacation, connect some lamps in your home to plugin timers. Some timers allow you to set multiple on/off events every 24 hours. Do this with 2 or 3 lamps to give the impression that someone is home in the evenings. This is especially important if someone is watching your house to determine if anybody is home. Ask your neighbour to pickup mail and newspapers every day. There’s nothing like a pile of newspapers on your front porch to tip off a burglar that you’re away.

5) Install dead bolt locks on all your doors. This is a fairly inexpensive way to secure your home. Deadbolts cannot be picked as easily as regular door locks. This is something the average homeowner can install with a minimum of tools.

Your best defence is to make sure that it appears that someone is always home, even when you’re not. For even more security consider installing a burglar alarm in your home.

Anchorage, Alaska, Usa

In Anchorage, Alaska, Usa the mean temp for the year is 1.83C (35.3F). -15.00C (5.00F) is the coolest monthly average min temp (occurring in January) while 19.00C (66.20F) is the warmest monthly mean high temp recorded in July. The annual mean temperature range is therefore 25.00C. Wet weather in Anchorage, Alaska totals on average 372.00mm (14.65in) per year. This is equivalent to average monthly precipitation of 31.00mm (1.22in). August is the most damp month when an average of 65mm (2.56in) of water precipitating on an average of 14 days while in April only 11mm (0.43in) of rain falls over 5 days. Anchorage, Alaska’s weather is effected by an average of 104 days per year with greater than 0.1mm (0.004in) of rainfall. Relative humidity at Anchorage, Alaska averages 63.75% annually. 50% is the most low average monthly relative humidity to be found in May and 77% is the highest mean monthly relative humidity ensueing in December. Anchorage, Alaska’s weather has an average of 1992 hours of sunshine per year equivalent to an average of 5.46 daily hours. Hours of sunlight range from 1.6 per day in December to 9.6 per day in June. Furnish yourself with comprehensive information regarding the weather in Anchorage, Alaska courtesy of this excellent resource. Click the link now to go there. Free Anchorage, Alaska climate graphs expose a comprehensive synopsis of the precipitation in Anchorage, Alaska.

Amarillo, Texas, Usa

In Amarillo, Texas, Usa the average annual temperature is 14.29C (57.725F). -4.00C (24.80F) is the coldest monthly average minimum temp (occurring in January) while 33.00C (91.40F) is the warmest monthly mean high temp recorded in July & August. Therefore we can say that the annual average temperature range is 23.00C. Precipitation in Amarillo, Texas totals on average 502.00mm (19.76in) per year. Thus mean monthly precipitation is 41.83mm (1.65in). May is the rainiest month subject to an average of 86mm (3.39in) of precipitation occurring during 9 days while in February only 15mm (0.59in) of rain falls over 5 days. Amarillo, Texas’s weather receives an average of 67 days per year with greater than 0.1mm (0.004in) of rainfall. Relative humidity at Amarillo, Texas averages 43.41666667% annually. 39% is the lowest mean monthly relative humidity which occurs in April and 50% is the maximum mean monthly relative humidity ensueing in January. Amarillo, Texas’s weather enjoys an average of 3376 hours of sunshine annually which is an average of 9.25 hours per day. Sunshine hours range from 7.2 per day in January to 11.5 per day in June. Uncover more exact details and insight on the temperatures in Amarillo, Texas in April thanks to the quality resource. Just visit the link to find out more. Free Amarillo, Texas climate charts show a comprehensive synopsis of the climate in Amarillo, Texas.

Bismarck, North Dakota, Usa

In Bismarck, North Dakota, Usa the average temp annually is 5.58C (42.05F). -19.00C (-2.20F) is the coldest monthly mean minimum temperature (occurring in January) while 30.00C (86.00F) is the warmest monthly mean high temp recorded in July. Therefore we can say that the annual average temperature range is 35.50C. Wet weather in Bismarck, North Dakota is on average 384.00mm (15.12in) per annum. The average amount of rainfall per month is 32.00mm (1.26in). June is the dampest month when an average of 86mm (3.39in) of rain falling over a period of 12 days while in January, February & December only 10mm (0.39in) of rain falls. Bismarck, North Dakota’s weather receives an average of 93 days per year with greater than 0.1mm (0.004in) of rainfall. Relative humidity at Bismarck, North Dakota averages 57.66666667% annually. 46% is the lowest average monthly relative humidity that takes place in August and 73% is the maximum average monthly relative humidity ensueing in January. Bismarck, North Dakota’s climate enjoys an average of 2760 sunshine hours annually or 7.56 daily hours. The range of hours of sunlight is from an average of 4.3 per day in December to 11.5 per day in July. Furnish yourself with comprehensive information regarding the Bismarck, North Dakota temperature January on the world resource. This link covers basically everything you need to know. Free Bismarck, North Dakota climate charts depict a comprehensive synopsis of the average temperatures in Bismarck, North Dakota.

When asked to name a supercar who wouldn’t have Ferrari on the tip of their tongue. What young boy didn’t have pictures of shiny red Ferraris on their bedroom wall? But where did the famous brand of Ferrari come from and who is the man behind the legend?

Enzo Ferrari was born in Modena, Italy, on 18th February 1898. His family owned a foundry and Enzo shared a room above the workshop with his brother Alfredo, waking to the sound of hammering when work started in the mornings.

The young Enzo saw his first car race in 1908 with his father. The whole environment of the shouting crowds and the brave drivers aroused his interest.

Enzo was forced to leave school after the death of his father, going on to work in the Modeno Fire Brigade’s workshop as a turning instructor. After a spell in the army (which he joined in 1917), Enzo was released from duty because of ill health. Instead of returning to schooling, Enzo found work as a test driver in Turin in 1918, later moving to Milan to work as a racing driver for automaker Construzioni Meccaniche Nazionale. The first proper race that Enzo entered was the Parma-Berceto in 1919. After that there was no looking back.

Enzo founded Scuderia Ferrari in 1929. They sponsored and trained Alfa Romeo staff. He was head of racing at Alfa Romeo until he heard that they planned to take over Scuderia Ferrari – prompting him to leave. After that he was prohibited from competing for a few years so the factory produced machine tools and aircraft accessories, although they did manage to make the Tipo 815 racing car during that time.

The emblem of Ferrari (the prancing horse) was adopted by Ferrari in 1923. At the Savio track in Ravenna after a race win, Enzo met the mother of Baracca, an Italian air force ace and national hero who was shot down at a young age. Baracca had a black horse as an emblem on his planes because his squad was enrolled in a cavalry regiment. The countess asked him to use the emblem for good luck. Enzo kept the black horse as it was on the plane but added a yellow background – a symbolic colour of Modena.
Ferrari moved to Maranello in 1943. The factory had to be rebuilt in 1946 after bomb damage from World War Two. The first Ferrari road car was built in 1947 – the 125 Sport. It was a high performance car with a V12 engine. They entered Formula One racing in 1950.

The last car commissioned by Enzo was the famous F40 which was revealed on the 40th birthday of the company.

Enzo Ferrari died on 14th August 1988 in Modena.

Ferrari today can claim 15 F1 drivers’ titles, 16 F1 constructors titles, 203 F1 pole postitions and 209 F1 wins to name but a few. They attract top drivers and are legendary in the field of Formula One.

Michael Schumacher driving for Ferrari dominated F1 from 2000-2004 and cemented the place of Ferrari as a great racing brand.

For a chance to get behind the wheel of a Ferrari today you can do a web search for Ferrari hire London, Ferrari hire Buckinghamshire or another geographical type search to find a super car hire place near you.

One of the reasons why room dividers and other indoor planters have become decoratively possible and practical is the discovery, some years ago, that artificial light can substitute for daylight in keeping plants growing healthily. So now we can have indoor gardens wherever we want them, and can fill them with an increasing variety of plants.

Successful gardening under artificial light presupposes, of course, that other cultural requirements like proper soil and humidity are also fulfilled. Success also requires that the light be of sufficient intensity and duration to satisfy the plants’ needs. Here is where some light installations fall short of the high hopes built up for them.

The principles of growing under artificial light have been around for 50 years, the information on the topic continues to grow. But amateur growers, professionals, and botanists are experimenting, learning, and publishing updated results. Anyone interested in this exciting grow light horticultural field should locate the latest authoritative information, experiment and search the web.

But think what decorative effects this growing principle makes possible! Now you can set a plant in the darkest corner of your hall, supply it with artificial light, and see it fresh, green, and thriving for months on end. You can install fluorescent tubes underneath one bookcase or cupboard shelf and grow plants on the next shelf as prettily as you would in any window. You can build a planter garden between your living and dining rooms, under a set of lights or a solar landscape lights that not only keep the plants growing but also illuminate the garden and make it a refreshing center of interest.

Of course, promises like these are always subject to one qualification – that the job be done properly. Unless the lights are of the type, intensity, and duration necessary for healthy growth, disappointment is around the corner. The main deficiency – unfortunately, all too frequent – is usually in intensity. I defy anyone to grow “full-flowering cattleya orchids” under one, or even two twenty-watt fluorescent tubes.

At present it is widely accepted that incandescent light is not needed in an artificial-light setup. This is helpful, because ordinary light bulbs do generate high heat, and their cost of operation is comparatively high. Fluorescent tubes – cool white, warm white, daylight, or a combination of types – are usually recommended.