Dim apartment, non-commercial grow lights

9 years ago

I have a number of fairly low-maintenance houseplants in our 500 square foot studio. Our single window, while generous, faces north.

I've used a light meter app (GreenThumb) and at midday, we're getting about 350 foot-candles on the wide window-ledge. Most of the plants live there. Step back a few feet, and it drops pretty quickly. Direct light doesn't ever hit the floor.

It would be great to have more plants, but I think we'd need the support of artificial light. Can you help me with some beginner questions?

1. No seriously, which bulbs actually work? We're just talking house plants, nothing fussier than a parlor palm. I almost made the mistake of trying to learn about orchids today in addition to "grow" lights.

2. Are there any bulbs we could place in, for example, and existing hallway ceiling fixture? How would that work? It seems like everyone keeps their bulbs within 1-2 feet, if not inches, of their plants. Is it just incredibly wasteful, ineffective, or both?

3. What is the least hideous way to integrate artificial "grow" lights into everyday decor? Can the bulbs be put into floor lamps? These would be great but they're pretty darn expensive: https://soltechsolutionsllc.com/products

4. What's the difference between full-spectrum lights for plants, and "happy lamps"? Can they cause sunburn?

Thank you all so much!

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Comments (3)

susanzone5 (NY)
9 years ago
Most common houseplants are sold to grow in the light from your window. A lot of them come from the forest floor in the rainforest and don't need bright light. All my houseplants face north and are flourishing. It's the soil, water and fertilizer you have to be concerned with.

If you're growing sunloving plants, better ask this on the houseplant forum.
FastInk
9 years ago
1= Pretty much all HID's i.e MH, HPS. As well as CFL's and LED's

2=Yes and no. there's newer LED bulbs that would work good for that application like these.

3=see number 2, the LED's that I linked come in different watts and are interchangeable in any incandescent fixture.

4=If x light is too close to a plant it can cause burn, and the color spectrum's are mostly marketing schemes. anything that has mostly blue spectrum is good. Red spectrum isn't that necessary but doesn't hurt. Any decent light will contain mostly blue, more advanced specialty lights that are marketed for flowering will contain blue, and a bit of the red spectrum. Think less about the plants on this and go with the color spectrum that's appealing to you.
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Larus
9 years ago
I live in a basement apartment. In much of the house it's too dark to see without without the lights on in the middle of the day.

I have a CFL aquarium grow light over my betta's tank, for his plants. It's just a basic CFL that is both really bright and has a good bit of blue spectrum light, so that made me think to just go to the store and get regular old household LED bulbs in daylight spectrum.

They're 14W bulbs meant to replace 100W incandescents and they just go into any old lamp (I have one in an old brass table lamp and one in a floor lamp). Mine can't be used with a dimmer or in a completely enclosed fixture, and they're indoor/outdoor but shouldn't actually get wet. They stay nice and cool so they can be quite close to the plants without scorching them, they're energy efficient so it's not expensive to run them all day, they only cost a few dollars each, and most importantly they do seem to be working.

I have my plants arranged around the lamps. They are mostly within about two or maybe three feet of the bulb, yeah.