Carol, is the lamp something you own or are looking to buy? Does the lamp already come with a bulb or is it something you buy separate for the lamp?

In my opinion, LED light are plants’ fave. That is from my own experience. I checked and it looks like the Ottlite is fluorescent. If you have the light already though, try it. Can’t hurt.

It is quite expensive - about $20 a bulb - so just as dviolet1 says - if you already own it - fine. If you plan to buy it - you can probably find another alternative. If you describe the place you are going to use it - we can probably come up with something else. It will probably be enough for 2-3 plants under it.

Lily - there are so many different LEDs - not all of them are plant faves. For different reasons. Too much light, too little light, not a good distribution of light, not good wavelength of light - and fancy ones are quite expensive.

I,

When I last did a cost analysis for plant lighting, proper LED lighting (not just any LED lights but LED lights of a suitable number and quality, intended to be used for plant growth) was the clear winner when projected out over 5 years. But only after 5 years. Spread sheets showed me that It would take that long for the reduced cost of electricity to catch up with initial increase in costs over equivalent fluorescent lighting.

I opted for cfl use. That made sense for me then (about 3 years ago) and as far as I am concerned, fluorescent lighting is still the way to go. (Not necessarily cfl's.)

Not to far down the road, LED light technology will become cheaper. Just like microwaves, calculators and all the other electronic stuff from across the pond. When it does, I will relook at LED's for my plant light needs.

I have my mom's 13w Ottlite from, like, the mid 90s, and sometimes I use it for rooting leaves. It's proven to be good for all kinds of temporary use, but the proper setup is, y'know, proper. It sounds like that's the smartest route to go if you're going to be growing for a long time. Plus, there are soooo many options. It's good to check all avenues for our green friends. :o)