Growing plants with artificial light are something you might want to think about. It is feasible to grow plants indoors using artificial light to maturity! Whether or not such a cultural strategy is worthwhile is another matter.
A lack of natural sunshine does not cause the issue; rather, the issue is that there isn’t enough light to compensate.
Light has three “dimensions,” and its relationship to another plant development component – temperature – is dramatically altered. To successfully grow plants in artificial light, it’s critical to have a firm grasp on all four of these considerations.
The light-color temperature relationship should be explained first because it is the least understood. There must be a balance between light and heat.
Reduced lighting necessitates a significant reduction in heat to ensure that the amount of light falling on the house plant is suitable for the level being maintained.
As the days get shorter in the winter, we can no longer compensate for the lack of sunlight by transferring the plant to a place that is warmer.
Instead, we should shift it to a cooler location or provide artificial light for plants in a bathroom, for example, to compensate for the absence of light. Let’s get this out of the way before we go any farther.
Artificial or natural light is better for a plant’s growth.
For lack of scientific training, I’m unable to provide an authoritative response. The amount of light that different species of plants require varies enormously.
Several tropical plants, including certain houseplants like the iron plant (Aspidistra elatior cast iron plants), are able to thrive in low light. When it comes to other plants, their flowering reactions are even more sensitive.
To flower, or not to flower, a plant’s reaction can be affected by as little as a one-foot candle, depending on whether the plant has long or short days. Some plants, on the other hand, require upwards of 7,000-foot candles to flower and will not bloom until they are exposed to direct sunlight.
Photosynthesis is aided by the whole spectrum of light provided by the sun at its peak. If you could offer the entire light spectrum — blue light, red light, and everything in between – I’d imagine that would be plenty.
In the grand scheme of things, it would have little effect. It’s possible to grow pothos and African violets in artificial illumination indoors, and the results can be stunning.
Understanding Plants’ Light and Watering Requirements.
Even if the temperature is higher, warm-weather plants can tolerate lower light intensities than can cool-weather plants.
In a dark environment at high temperatures, plants like cinerarias and calendulas, which require low temperatures, will be more affected than the poinsettia unless more light is provided.
Incandescent light bulbs’ high heat output is one of the drawbacks of artificial lighting in plant cultivation. Much of this disadvantage has been eliminated because of the invention of fluorescent grow light bulbs. Fluorescent bulbs may produce a lot of light while generating very little heat.
It’s still true that light is comprised of three “dimensions”:
- The level of brightness
- A short amount of time (Read How Long to Keep Grow Lights On Plants)
- The spectrum of light
When discussing the brightness of a source of light, the term “light intensity” is used. Foot candles are now more commonly used in photographic light meters, making this wordless obscure.
Oftentimes, intensity and duration are conflated. The number of hours that a light source emits radiation is measured by its duration; however, intensity and duration are not the same things.
Increasing the brightness for fewer hours won’t make up for a shorter day. There is some evidence that African violets can be produced as well with 600-foot candles for 18 hours as they can with 1,000-foot-candles for 12 hours, however, this is perhaps the only situation where the two attributes are not interchangeable.
Burning full-spectrum fluorescent lamps for as long as needed is, of course, perfectly acceptable. Another issue is light intensity. It is necessary to arrange plants (leaves) within 12 inches of the lighting fixture to acquire enough “grow light” from these full-spectrum light bulbs or fluorescent tubes.
Consequently, two 40-watt fluorescent lighting tubes in a conventional light fixture can only light up around 4 square feet of growth space (12 inches wide by 4 feet long). In contrast, three feet above the plants, incandescent lamps can be hanging. A 60-watt bulb can be used to replace sunlight in a four-foot-by-four-foot space.
Fluorescent lights and incandescent bulbs, on the other hand, should not be taken to indicate that they may be used as a full-time replacement for sunlight. As a supplement to natural light, this lighting can be employed for many species.
This additional light may assist slow down a flowering plant that is approaching its blossoming stage throughout the shorter days of the year. Extra lighting may be the difference between blooms and no flowers if the plant requires long days for normal flowering.
Poinsettias, for example, usually fail when grown in a typical living room because the space is only used at nighttime hours.
Just two or three-foot candles in a plant’s sunlight can cause it to stop blossoming. When the living room lamp is on and someone is reading a magazine, iPad, or Kindle, there’s no way a poinsettia is going to bloom. Before it blooms, it must be completely dark for at least 13 to 14 hours each night:
Chrysanthemums are also short-day plants, so extra light can be used to keep them in check. When people want flowers, they turn out the lights, and the plant blooms.
Chrysanthemums may be made to bloom at the grower’s convenience by shade in the summer and illumination in the winter.
Plant Growth Under Different Types of Artificial Light
An artificial sunlight lamp can be used for a variety of applications by amateur gardeners. It’s one of the most fascinating to compel tuberous begonias to bloom throughout the dark winter months. Extra light is needed for a long-day plant like the tuberous begonia.
Flower buds stop growing when the length of the day falls below 12 hours in the open. Tuberous begonias stop flowering in mid-September and instead develop tubers across the United States.
If lights are put on the plants in mid-August, they can inhibit the tubers from growing and the plants from flowering all winter long, according to Cornell University researchers.
Indoor plants can benefit from light provided by either fluorescent or incandescent lighting systems that are turned on at four o’clock in the afternoon and off at nine o’clock at night. The use of a timer such as this makes this a cinch.
This extra lighting can keep geraniums, Browallia, Heavenly Blue morning glories, and other houseplants blooming all winter long.
Foliage plants that require intense light, such as coleus, will remain short and sturdy when lit artificially with artificial sunshine. There’s a good chance English ivy will cease trying to reach the heavens and stay short-legged.
Plants can’t be grown this way because they don’t have access to natural sunlight. It all relies on how much money we have available to invest in this direction.
I’ve seen artificial lighting that is 50 percent brighter than natural light, together with air-conditioning technology to reduce the temperatures raised by the lights’ heat emissions. This is a far cry from what most amateur gardeners can manage.
Using Artificial Light To Grow Plants In The Basement
Growing African violets and Venus fly trap plants in a basement using just artificial light is doable, but it’s not a given. All of these are species found on the forest floor.
These are plants that have adapted to living in low light conditions, such as those found in forests. Plants like African violets, carnivorous plants, all begonias, browallias, and impatiens are all included in this category. If a species can thrive in low light, it’s likely that it can thrive in full artificial light as well.
In their “Basement Greenhouse,” a couple successfully grew Cattleya Orchids under fluorescent grow lights.
For the third dimension of light, look no further. The spectrum of light emitted by a light source was previously overlooked.
For plants that rely solely on artificial light, the quality of light is critical. The shorter blue light waves (which are close to the invisible ultra-violet spectrum) appear to be vital for vegetative growth and blooming.
Also, long-wavelength red wavelengths, which are close to infra-red or invisible heat waves, are important, but not as much. Fortunately, the utilization of lighting systems that suspend daylight fluorescent tubes and light fixtures about 10′′–12′′ inches above the plants can provide a very close imitation of natural daylight.
Greater illumination of a certain region is preferable, provided it is done in a reasonable manner. An enclosed growth container and grow tents alleviate many of the issues associated with artificial light plant cultivation.
Inside a container or grow tent of this type:
- Light
- Heat
- Humidity
- a source of sustenance for plants
As a result of this fine-tuning, graphs depicting each variable are almost straight lines.
It is difficult to keep the humidity level high enough for optimum development in an open basement. Humidity can be maintained in the enclosed plant case at close to 100 percent with little effort.
An open bench with high humidity is ideal for growing what?
For example, the tuberous begonia, a light-sensitive plant, is one of the most rewarding subjects. There isn’t much of a difference in results if lights are left on all day or on for 16 hours and then turned off for 8 hours.
Tuberous begonias were cultivated from seed to flowering by a friend in LaGrange, Illinois, and the plants were continuously blossoming. He cultivates a vast variety of plants in eight separate greenhouses. Impatiens and African violets both do well in this climate.
In the early stages of the growing season, many herbs and vegetables like peppers and tomatoes benefit from artificial light.
In Propagation, Plants Need Artificial Light
Artificial light is critical in plant propagation, and the quality of the light is a crucial consideration.
Light from daylight white fluorescent tubes provides the blue wavelengths, while light from incandescent bulbs provides the red wavelengths that are missing from cooler light.
When it comes to normal plant growth, blue light is preferable, but visible red light encourages root growth.
Cuttings should be rooted under soft white fluorescent tubes rather than daylight tubes. This type of tube may provide a greater amount of red light, which is what these devices require.
In a closed case or grow tent, the results are spectacular. I’ve successfully propagated hundreds of different kinds of cuttings with little to no waste and almost no supervision. If a pot or flat is filled with soil or mix, the lid is closed and should not be opened until the rooted cuttings have been removed.
Using artificial light to force Dutch bulbs without a sunny window has shown to be a highly effective application. Freshly obtained bulbs are immediately planted and stored at a temperature of 48 degrees Fahrenheit in a dark spot until the shoots extend 2-3 inches from the pots.
Except in the case of bulbs to be held back for later forcing, long-term cold storage treatment is unnecessary. Fluorescent light is used to grow the plants to a length of 3 feet.
A 12-by-48-inch area can be illuminated by two 40-watt lamps positioned 10 inches above the pots. The ideal temperature for the room is 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
Fluorescent tubes are all that is needed to create good pot plants, according to my experience. A 60-watt incandescent bulb may be added to the two tubes if they will be used as cuttings, and this may extend the life of the plant.
Direct Sunlight Is Replaced Or Supplemented By Artificial Light.
Infrared Light
Metal halide lighting is a powerful source of light with long service life. To run, they need a ballast kit. During the vegetative growth stage, Metal Halide lamps are commonly utilized, while HPS fixtures are employed during the flowering stage.
Sodium-Based High-Pressure Grow Lights
HPS grow lights are High-Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps. The light they emit is appropriate for the blossoming stage because it is in the orange/red spectrum. Flowering marijuana plants are said to benefit from high-pressure sodium lamps.
Grow Lights using Compact Fluorescents
Houseplant propagation and plant growth are becoming increasingly popular with compact fluorescent plant grow lights (CFLs). Fluorescent lights provide the plant with more useable light per watt even though they are less efficient or have less intensity than HID lights.
These lights are incredibly powerful when used in large numbers. Use a 6500K blue light spectrum set 6′′-12′′ above the plant canopy during the vegetative stage of growth. Use the warm, red 3000k spectrum throughout the blossoming phase.
Indoor Plants and LED Grow Lights
When it comes to indoor artificial lighting, LED grow lights (light-emitting diode) are relative “newcomers.” They have a number of advantages, including low heat, extended life, low energy consumption, and high efficiency.
The high cost of obtaining the lighting necessary to successfully grow plants indoors is one of the drawbacks. LED lights are expected to become more affordable in the next years as they become more widely used.
In the End
Does artificial light allow plants to thrive?
Yes, without a doubt!
It’s a lot of fun to grow plants indoors using artificial light. Two 40-watt tubes positioned 10 inches above the plants are all that most people need to get started. African violets are a good place to start.
