Adding Artificial Light
There are several options available for providing artificial lighting to your indoor garden. They range from a single light bulb to extensive grow light setups. In addition, the light bulbs themselves can differ in the type of light they produce. What lighting option you choose will depend on the size of your indoor garden and what plants you choose to grow.
Choosing Appropriate Grow Lights and Lighting Solutions
Plant lights – or grow lights – come in many shapes and sizes. There are single grow bulbs that can be used in a standard lamp; stand-alone tabletop plant lights that come with their own bulbs; and extensive systems with tube-shaped bulbs, ballasts, and height-adjustable frames.
For example, if you want to grow one or two herb plants in your kitchen or a single succulent house plant on your desk, you might opt for a small tabletop plant light to cover every single pot. If you plan to grow several herbs or succulents, you might purchase an all-in-one tabletop setup that comes with a container – suitable for a couple of small plants – and an attached plant light. Most vegetables require high light levels to grow and produce well, so you’ll likely need a more extensive setup to accommodate them.
In addition to various grow light systems, there are different types of bulbs, including fluorescent, LED, and specific-wavelength bulbs. Each variety of bulb emits a certain type of light to meet the needs of different types of plants. Plants use different wavelengths for various internal functions, like growing leaves, flowers, or fruit.
Think about sunlight: It looks colorless to the human eye until it shines through water droplets and creates what we see as a rainbow. The colors in a rainbow illustrate different wavelengths of light (the ones that can be seen with the human eye, at least; there are others but we can’t see them). Plant lights are similar. A “full spectrum” bulb that produces all wavelengths will, like sunlight, appear white. Other plant light bulbs are designed to produce only specific wavelengths and the light they produce will appear red, blue or purple (produces red and blue wavelengths).
So, depending on what you want to grow, you’ll need to match your choice of lighting to the variety and quantity of plants you want to grow. For more information on artificial lighting options, go to “Indoor Garden Care & Maintenance”
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