How to Select Grow Lights
Bring the joy of the outdoors inside by starting your own indoor garden. By learning how to select grow lights, you can turn even the most light-deprived apartment into a veritable plant oasis. Selecting grow lights is easy if you know what you need to find. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Observe the light coming in your windows. Windows that offer full sun throughout the day may be able to support plants without grow lights. If you aren't lucky enough to have sunny south-facing windows, decide where you want to have your plants and check to be sure you have an electrical outlet nearby.
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Choose plants known for their success as houseplants. Some easy care houseplants include African violet, rubber plants, spider plants, and aloes. You may also wish to consider dwarf citrus plants, which are surprisingly easy to care for at home.
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Choose the right grow light for your new plants. Vegetative plants need different levels of light than plants that will flower and bear fruit. If you use the wrong type of light, you will end up with plants that are too tall and spindly or with plants that never flower. Green, leafy plants do best with lights in the blue spectrum, while flowering fruit and vegetable plants need concentration in the red-orange part of the spectrum.
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Consider spending the extra cash for full spectrum grow lights. Full spectrum lights, while more expensive, are the best bet for all plants.
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Skip the incandescent bulbs, which don't provide enough light and burn out too soon. Similarly, avoid metal halide, which are more expensive and burn very hot. While some advances are being made with LED grow lights, the best grow lights for beginners are fluorescents, especially T-5 bulbs.
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Avoid grow lights that aren't actually grow lights. Some lights labeled as plant lights or aquarium lights don't actually provide the right type of light to nourish your plants. These lights are designed as ornamental accent lighting and will not provide adequate light for your plants.
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Determine the best distance for hanging your grow lights. Hanging a grow light on the ceiling won't help out a plant on the floor. The ideal distance is about 6 inches for starting seedlings, and while larger plants can handle a greater distance, with reflectors to more efficiently spread the light, the closer to the plant, the better the light system. Use chain to lower your light fixture as needed and adjust as plants grow taller.
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Buy everything you need: in addition to your fluorescent bulbs, you'll need a ballast, which is the light fixture. A ballast typically holds two bulbs. You'll also probably want to get a reflector, which spreads the light evenly. The total cost of this set-up can be quite expensive, with the minimum about $40 as of October 2009. Consider that fluorescent bulbs can last up to 25 times longer than incandescent lights, and realize that you are making an investment in your plants' future.
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Tips & Warnings
Look for T-5 compact fluorescent light bulbs. Although more expensive, these are a more efficient way of providing light to your plants. You will need a special ballast, too.
Never place light fixture closer to plants than 4 inches. This can burn the leaves of your plant.
