It can be difficult to get enough light for your houseplants due to changing seasons or lack of window space. See these tips on how to choose the best indoor lighting for your plants.
LED, which stands for Light Emitting Diode, is the most common type of grow light today. Bulbs are very efficient and produce very little heat compared to their brightness. A variety of options can be found, including screw-in replacement bulbs, freestanding clip-on and table-top fixtures, and even high-intensity greenhouse lights. LED grow lights typically offer full-spectrum lighting, but many can also be customized for the specific bandwidth your plants require. Several LED products can be programmed to provide different levels of intensity at different times of the day, and some even offer smart technology that lets you sync them with your smartphone.
Incandescent lights are great for illuminating a room or growing low-light houseplants such as vines, ferns, or dracaena. They are of limited utility for growing plants with higher light requirements. These lamps only use about 10% of their energy as light output and 90% as heat. So unless you want to cook your plants, they are not suitable for light-loving plants like many tropical plants, cacti or succulents.
Fluorescent lights are great for plants with low to moderate light requirements, such as African violets. They are also great for starting vegetables indoors. These lamps typically feature long tubular bulbs and range in size from T5, T8 and T12.
The narrower the bulb, the more efficient and brighter it is due to the smaller surface area. In addition, fluorescent lamps consume 75% less energy than incandescent lamps. So, for example, a 25-watt fluorescent light bulb emits about the same amount of light as a 100-watt incandescent light bulb. The T5 system emits approximately twice as much light per tube as standard fluorescent lamps. They are 6500 Kelvin and are also full spectrum, very intense light.
Kelvin is the basic unit of color temperature and is used to measure the whiteness of light output; it is the visual warmth or coolness of a light source. So the higher the Kelvin, the bluer or “cooler” the light. Kelvin, the lower the level of rescuer or “warm” it will appear.
When growing most houseplants, use bulbs between 4000 and 6000 Kelvin, as the color temperature of the bulbs will draw on the full spectrum of colors – cool and warm. With these lights, you can actually mimic growing conditions in a greenhouse or outdoors. Culinary herbs, vegetables, and fermented plants can be grown year-round. Indoor plants that require a lot of light, such as cattleya orchids, succulents, and carnivores, also perform better in these full-spectrum lights. For starter plants and seedlings, place T8 or T5 bulbs 2 to 4 inches from the plant to mimic the sun. For mature plants, including herbs or houseplants, place them a foot or two away from a light source.
Compact fluorescent lamps are ideal for lighting indoor houseplants without the need for a full T5 system and at a fraction of the cost of incandescent lamps. Power varies from person to person, so be sure to ask an expert what works best for you and your lighting needs. Carnivorous plants and phalaenopsis do well under compact fluorescent lights.
Halides are often used in larger spaces or larger plants because they cover greater distances in terms of lighting. In most cases, you don’t need a 1000 watt lamp. You can use smaller halide or T5 fluorescence systems.
Remember that plants also need darkness. Although they can grow in constant light, all plants prefer dark periods. Provide them with 12 to 18 hours of light per day.