Houseplant set up

14 years ago

What is the best setup for providing supplemental/additional light to houseplants? Specifically for plants that like bright light? I currently have a plant situated under a reading lamp and it seems to be flourishing. The light bulb is a standard, energy saver spiral type. As much as I'd like to think this is beneficial to the plant (it is as green as ever and seems to be growing rather well), I'm pretty sure others will chime in and set me straight.

Ultimately, I'm curious as to whether I can position plants under or around floor lamps and/or desk lamps to provide an additional source of lighting to help them grow (for those plants that I can't fit onto the window sill or close enough to a window). If so, what type of bulb is best? A forewarning: I know absolutely nothing about lights aside from what helps me replace spent bulbs in standard light fixtures. :)

Thanks in advance to any who chime in!

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Comments (5)

mistascott
14 years ago
Leave that plant where it is! Don't mess with a good thing. Those CFLs (compact fluorescent or spiral bulbs as you call them) generate a decent amount of lumens (light) that, when focused on the plant (closer is better but don't let it touch or burn the foliage) can help it significantly.

Incandescents (the old/normal looking type of bulb) are terrible for plant growing because they are inefficient, wasting much of their wattage as heat. CFLs or regular tube fluorescents are generally 5-6 times more efficient and generally produce a much broader range of light wavelengths than incandescents, including those that are important for photosynthesis.

So, definitely use CFLs in your fixtures to help the plants along, keep them close to the plants. hopefully, the lamp fixtures can help direct the light to some degree. Also use sunlight because that is going to give you a ton more light than any bulb can. If you want to get a decent CFL light for growing, I would recommend something like the one linked below.

Here is a link that might be useful: CFL
lenle
Original Author
14 years ago
MS - thank you! I am horrible at technical speak for things that don't interest me or I don't use often enough... lighting is just one of those things! With the bulb you suggested, am I able to pop that into a regular lamp? I may be able to pick some up at HD if I head out that way this weekend.

Thank you again for your help!
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mistascott
14 years ago
Yes, it will work in any normal lamp socket. I use them for seedlings. They work great -- especially in a lamp that has a cone around the bulb so the light gets directed onto the plant.
lenle
Original Author
14 years ago
Great. I'll give it a try.

Thanks!
lenle
Original Author
14 years ago
MS, if you have a moment to chime in (again) I'd appreciate it. I haven't been able to get out to my local Home Depot (it's a good 40+ minutes away) but did come across a bulb I wanted to try out to see if I could notice a difference. I picked up a GE "Daylight 6500K" 900 lumens, 15watt CFL. I definitely see a difference between this CFL and the other one I had been using. The daylight bulb is brighter and crisper, definitely more pleasing to the eye. While I understand the bulb you suggested to be a better, brighter bulb... is this GE bulb a suitable candidate to use in the meantime? They did have the 100 watt replacement version that had close to double the lumens, but I opted for the 60 watt replacecment.