[Cindy]

Hi Pananep,

I have a plant rack with lights at my balcony where I grow my CPs. Since I have both types of light sources under the same conditons i.e. temperature and humidity, I'll list the pros and cons as follows.

Artificial light/indoor growing (T5 lights)
Pros:
constant light levels each minute
slightly more constant humidity i.e. less fluctuation, although not necessary higher on the average
useful for germination of seeds, rooting cuttings, ICU for weak plants where too much or too little light can cause a problem
lowland Neps appreciate the constant light level, looking all uniformly green with no blemishes (sunspots)
Cons:
costs money
heat emission (not a problem with lowland species)
plants outgrow the area too soon

Natural light at the balcony
Pros:
sunlight brings out certain colouration which T5 cannot
induces flowering as Neps have the space to vine
UV rays kills off certain fungus/bacteria
free
Cons:
may cause leaf burn in the beginning but plants harden to that very quickly
north-west facing so certain times of the year there is no direct sunlight shining into the balcony; even N. ampullaria stops producing pitchers