I had read in numerous places that Mimosa Hostillis should be propagated under indirect light because of its native habitat but I remember reading a post by Jamie recently where he said that his plants used a surprising amount of light. Someone I know may have to put one under artificial light and he was wondering if anyone knew of a general range of intensity (w/sq ft) that wouldn't be harmful the plant.

As soon as they are a few weeks old they can handle full sun, IME they love heaps of light

Under artificial light I wouldn't go much lower than 30 w/sq ft - ideally 50 watts plus, if they are getting additional C02 then they will be able make use of higher intensities circa 80-90 w/sq ft.

As long as they are not being burned by the heat of the bulb they will be fine.

Mimosa might need indirect light as a seedling but in it´s natural habitat mimosas gets scorching sun all year round.

You could gradually increase the sunlight exposure of your mimosa and see how it responds. I wouldn´t do a very abrupt transition though

Hey inext,

It's my understanding that mimosas grow in open areas under full Brazilian sun in their natural habitat. I think people assume they're understory plants in the Amazon, hence passing along info that they need indirect light, but knowledgeable people in that region have said otherwise.

Like Hieronymous said, IME they like as much light as you can give them from the time they sprout. I have several directly under a 250 watt HPS light, just inches below the light packed in as close as I can get them. Nothing else I have would withstand it, but they flourish there. They were under a T5 initially, and while they were living, the growth was seriously stunted by too little light output. You always want to acclimate a plant to any change in light, humidity, or whatever, so slowly introduce it an keep a close eye on it during the transition.

You should try to add some wind resistance if they will be indoors. It gives them a little workout to keep them from getting floppy, which can definitely happen.

Good luck! Love growing the mimosas...

Damn I was not expecting to hear 50w/sq ft Hieronymous. I'm also really glad you mentioned that they can benefit from additional CO2 because my friend wasn't sure if modestly cycling the air in the room had the potential to hurt them due to the decrease in humidity. I'm not too shocked since their doesn't appear to be a whole ton of information on growing available but from what little I'd read I'd gotten the impression that they were delicate little plants that should be put next to a window. Very glad to hear that they're considerably hardier