Tuesday, November 5, 2019 / by John Schlanbusch
Best Lighting to keep plants alive through the fall!
It can be difficult to provide enough light to your houseplants due to seasonal changes or lack of window space.
Incandescent Lights
Incandescent lights are good for lighting up a room or growing low-light houseplants, such as vines, ferns or dracaenas. They have limited utility for growing plants with higher light requirements. These lights put out only about 10 percent of their energy as light while 90 percent is heat. So, unless you want to cook your plants, they aren't ideal for light-loving plants like many tropical, cacti or succulents.
Fluorescent Lights
Fluorescent lights are ideal for plants with low to medium light requirements, like African violets. They are also good for starting vegetables indoors. These lights typically come in long, tubelike bulbs in a range of sizes including T5, T8 and T12.
Compact Fluorescent Lights
Compact fluorescents are great for lighting indoor houseplants without having to use a full T5 system and for a fraction of the cost of incandescent lights. Wattage varies, so be sure to ask a specialist what will work best for you and your lighting needs. Carnivorous plants and Phalaenopsis orchids do well under compact fluorescent lights.
Plants need darkness as well. Even if they can grow under continuous light, all plants prefer a dark period. However, provide them with 12 to 18 hours of light per a day!