light vs heat

[gardenhoe]

I have two indoor areas that I plan on overwintering tropicals/other in. One is a small south facing lean to greenhouse that gets natural light but not as easy to keep warm (attached to living space plus supplemented with radiant heat from a chicken coup heater, (not large enough for heat sinks or stove as it is only 4x8) the other is our walk out basement that I am in the process of setting up a grow room in, it has baseboard heat so can be kept warm but only has one small south facing window so I am planning on using grow lights for light source on a timer. I have citrus, black sapote, banana, loquat sweetsop, cherimoya, ice cream bean and miracle berry. humidity is not a problem with either as I have humidifiers for both. I was planning on either one or the other for my tropicals as I also overwinter my peppers and rosemary which are not picky as long as I keep the temp around 50. which would be the best choice for my tropicals? Please and thank you

[brian]

my experience with overwintering container plants is that you either want warmth and light OR cool shade.  If you have warmth without sun the plants will become leggy or drop leaves.  If you have sun without warmth the roots won't keep up and the top may die back. 

[K-Rimes]

I use quantum board LED lights and they keep a 4x4 space more than hot. I need to exhaust from the tent and it warms my house really nicely during the winter. My opinion is that light is not helpful for over wintering tropical plants unless there is a LOT of it as noted above - the plants get leggy. I put my plants into a garage with no extra light for about a week and they had no issues - came out swinging when I put them back in the sun and frost risk was gone.

Your out door greenhouse sounds like the best situation if it gets hot during the day. My greenhouse peaks at 75f in the winter and can drop as far as 40f on really cold nights. I needed supplemental heat only a couple nights. In your case, it sounds like you have a pretty good set-up with the greenhouse being connected to house and radiant heat. Add in a fan to circulate that radiant heat, a little insulation / sealing, could be all you need for 6b.

[gardenhoe]

Thank you, going to be tight squeeze in the greenhouse but I can keep it over 60 so I think I will go that route