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Understanding Grow Lights for Indoor Plants
For plants to flourish, they require water, soil, and sunlight. However, indoor environments often lack sufficient natural light for houseplants or vegetable seedlings to thrive. In such cases, grow lights become essential tools to supplement or replace sunlight, ensuring healthy plant development.
Anna Ohler, co-owner of Bright Lane Gardens, suggests, “If your plant appears healthy but exhibits slowed growth, supplementing with artificial light can be advantageous.” Grow lights for indoor plants are effective in providing the necessary light for light-demanding species and young seedlings to cultivate indoors successfully. They can also offer supplementary illumination for existing plants. This guide explores selecting, utilizing, and purchasing grow lights to maintain vibrant indoor greenery.
Full-spectrum LEDs are considered optimal for grow lights.
What are Grow Lights?
Grow lights are specialized lamps or fixtures designed for indoor gardening to replicate the sunlight that outdoor plants naturally receive. PlantsPhotosynthesis enables plants to convert light into energy for growth, highlighting the benefit of increased light exposure for robust development. While basic incandescent bulbs can function as plant grow lights, they are less efficient, producing weaker light and considerable heat. Fluorescent lights are another option; however, LEDs are now the most prevalent choice for grow lights due to their superior brightness, energy efficiency, and lower heat emission.
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Setting up grow lights in a bedroom is generally not recommended due to the intense brightness, even with reflectors.
Why Utilize Grow Lights?
For plant enthusiasts residing in homes or apartments with limited natural light, cultivating indoor gardens can be challenging. While some low-light plants like pothos and spider plants tolerate shade, growing plants requiring more sunlight necessitates supplemental lighting. Certain species, such as succulents, cacti, dwarf citrus, and flowering plants, demand intense, direct light to thrive, often needing artificial grow lights even in brightly lit indoor spaces. Starting vegetable seedlings indoors also requires significant light that even a sunny window cannot always provide adequately.
Insufficient light may manifest in various ways. Flowering or fruiting plants might fail to progress through developmental stages. Etiolation, characterized by elongated stems and sparse leaves, indicates a plant stretching for more light. Additionally, houseplants might lean noticeably towards light sources, and variegated plants may lose their distinctive patterns, reverting to green. Vibrant plants like crotons can lose their coloration without ample illumination. These signs suggest the need for supplemental grow lights to ensure healthy plant growth.
Red LEDs can be optionally added to full-spectrum white LED grow lights.
Selecting the Appropriate Grow Light
Plants utilize different segments of the light spectrum for specific functions. Blue light promotes leafy growth, whereas red light aids in flowering and fruit production. White spectrum grow lights emit white light, a combination of all colors, while full spectrum grow lights provide white light that more closely emulates natural sunlight. Justin Hancock, a horticulturist at Costa Farms, a houseplant nursery, explains that while light spectrum is a factor, light intensity is paramount when choosing grow lights for indoor plants.
“Horticultural studies suggest that light intensity is generally more critical for plant health than wavelength,” Hancock states. Light intensity is quantified in foot-candles, measuring the light quantity on a surface. Wattage, commonly associated with brightness in household bulbs, instead indicates energy consumption. When purchasing grow lights for seedlings or houseplants, foot-candles are a crucial measurement.
“Typical grow light bulbs should suffice for most houseplants, ranging from 50 to 200 foot-candles,” notes Ohler. For a simpler approach, wattage can guide grow light selection. Ohler advises providing 10 to 20 watts per square foot for average houseplants.
A group of potted plants illuminated by a grow light.
Grow Lights for Houseplant Care
Even houseplants situated in sun-drenched rooms may benefit from grow lights. “People often underestimate the light requirements of certain plants. Ample sunlight through windows can create a false impression of sufficient light,” Ohler points out. “However, window light is directional, and direct sunlight is limited to specific hours.”
Ohler recommends basic white spectrum LED lights for general houseplant use. Begin by positioning the light approximately two feet from the plant. Observe the plant’s response and adjust the distance or light intensity as needed.
Click & Grow systems utilize biomimicry to replicate natural indoor growing conditions.
Grow Lights for Seed Starting Indoors
While a single bulb might aid a houseplant, starting seeds indoors requires more potent lighting. “Seedlings are significantly more demanding,” Hancock emphasizes. “Robust lighting for seedlings is crucial to prevent weak, leggy growth.”
Utilize full-spectrum LED panels large enough to cover the entire seed tray surface to ensure strong seedling development. Fluorescent shop lights are a more economical alternative if available, but LEDs are more energy-efficient and produce less heat. When using fluorescent lights, maintain a safe distance from delicate seedling leaves.
Position light panels approximately two inches above the soil surface when seedlings emerge, and gradually raise them as the plants grow taller. Many grow light models include adjustable hardware like chains for easy height adjustment as plants develop.
Barrina grow lights shown with adjustable hanging chains.
Where to Purchase Grow Lights
While premium grow light systems are available, experts advise that basic, budget-friendly options often perform equally well. However, Ohler cautions against excessively cheap grow lights from online marketplaces. She suggests starting with LED grow light bulbs from local hardware stores, known for greater reliability compared to some online brands. Reputable brands like Phillips and Sylvania offer bulbs specifically marketed as grow lights, readily found at retail locations.
For online options, Ohler recommends Vivosun, an Amazon retailer that offers a range of LED grow light panels, seed starting mats, and other indoor gardening equipment. “Avoid overcomplicating your selection, but also steer clear of the absolute cheapest online options,” Ohler advises. “A mid-range choice usually suffices for most indoor gardening needs.”