Grow Lights for Beginners

Grow Lights for Beginners

I bought my first grow light after watching my fiddle leaf fig slowly lean toward my one north-facing window like it was trying to escape. I felt ridiculous setting up a purple light in my living room, but honestly, it changed everything. My plants stopped stretching, new leaves came in darker green, and I stopped feeling guilty every time I walked past my sad, leggy pothos.

If you’re reading this, you probably have the same problem I had: not enough light. Maybe your apartment faces the wrong direction, or you live somewhere with brutal winters, or you just want to keep plants in your windowless bathroom because you saw it on Pinterest. I get it. Grow lights feel intimidating at first, but they’re actually pretty straightforward once you understand the basics.

LED vs. Fluorescent lights

When I started researching grow lights, I got overwhelmed fast. There are so many options, and everyone online seems to have a strong opinion about which type is best. After using both kinds for a couple of years, I can tell you that both LED and fluorescent lights work fine for houseplants. The question is which one makes sense for your situation.

Fluorescent lights are the older technology. These are the long tube lights you’ve probably seen in office buildings. For plants, people usually use T5 or T8 bulbs. I started with a basic T5 shop light from the hardware store because it was cheap, around thirty dollars. It worked great for my African violets and some smaller plants on a shelf. The light output is decent, and you can find them anywhere.

The downside is that fluorescent bulbs don’t last as long as LEDs. I had to replace mine after about a year of daily use. They also put out more heat, which isn’t a huge deal for most houseplants, but it means you need to keep the lights a bit farther from the leaves. And honestly, they’re kind of bulky and not very attractive if you’re putting them in a living space.

LED grow lights are what I use now for most of my plants. They last forever (I’ve had mine for three years with no issues), use way less electricity, and run cooler than fluorescents. The upfront cost is higher, but when you factor in the lifespan and energy savings, they pay for themselves. According to research from North Carolina State University Extension, LEDs can last 50,000 hours compared to 10,000 for fluorescents.

The tricky part with LEDs is that there are a million options. You’ll see lights marketed as “full spectrum,” which means they emit light across the range that plants can use for photosynthesis. Some LEDs have that weird purple glow (those are using mostly red and blue diodes), and some look like normal white light. I prefer the white ones because the purple lights make my apartment feel like a nightclub, and I can’t see the actual color of my plants under them.

For basic houseplants like pothos, philodendrons, snake plants, and most tropicals, either fluorescent or LED will work. If you’re on a tight budget and just want to supplement light for a few plants, get a fluorescent shop light. If you’re planning to build a bigger setup or want something more energy efficient long-term, go with LED.

How far to place the light

This is where I messed up at first. I thought more light meant better results, so I put my grow light really close to my plants. Within a week, my poor calathea had crispy brown edges on all its leaves. Turns out, you can absolutely give plants too much light, especially when it’s concentrated from an artificial source.

The distance between your light and your plants depends on the intensity of the light and what kind of plants you’re growing. For most LED grow lights designed for houseplants, I keep the light about 12 to 18 inches above the top of the plants. That’s what works for my setup, but you might need to adjust based on your specific light.

Low-light plants like pothos, philodendrons, and snake plants can handle being farther from the light, maybe 18 to 24 inches. These plants evolved to live on the forest floor where direct sun never hits them, so they don’t need intense light even when you’re trying to help them grow.

Medium-light plants like most ferns, calatheas, and monsteras do well at that 12 to 18 inch range. I keep my monstera about 15 inches from my LED panel, and it puts out a new leaf every few weeks during the growing season.

High-light plants are trickier indoors. If you’re trying to grow succulents, cacti, or anything that wants full sun, you need a pretty powerful light placed closer, maybe 6 to 12 inches away. I haven’t had great success with these because my grow lights just aren’t strong enough to replicate desert sun. I stick to growing those outside in summer.

Here’s how to tell if your distance is wrong. If the new leaves are pale or the plant is stretching toward the light (getting leggy with long spaces between leaves), move the light closer. If you see brown edges, bleached spots, or leaves curling away from the light, move it farther away. Plants will tell you what they need if you pay attention.

One trick I learned from the University of Georgia Extension is to use your hand as a test. Hold your hand at plant level under the light for 30 seconds. If it feels uncomfortably warm, the light is too close. It should feel slightly warm at most.

Above: A close up look at the symptoms.

Lighting schedule

I was so confused about timing when I started. Some websites said 12 hours, some said 16, and I read one forum post where someone ran their lights 24/7. That seems excessive, and it turns out plants actually need a dark period to complete certain processes.

Most houseplants do well with 12 to 16 hours of light per day. I run mine for 14 hours because that’s what I’ve found works for my collection. I use a basic plug-in timer from the hardware store (cost about eight dollars) so I don’t have to remember to turn the lights on and off. The timer turns the lights on at 7 AM and off at 9 PM.

The timing matters more than you’d think. Plants have circadian rhythms just like we do, according to research published in the journal Plant Physiology. They need that dark period to regulate growth hormones and process the energy they collected during the day. Running lights 24/7 can actually stress plants out and lead to weird growth patterns.

For most tropical houseplants, aim for 12 to 14 hours. If you’re trying to encourage flowering in something like an African violet or a holiday cactus, you might need to adjust the schedule. African violets can handle up to 16 hours under lights, which is why they’re so popular for growing entirely under artificial light.

Succulents and cacti also do well with 12 to 14 hours, but they need a brighter light source during that time. I tried growing a jade plant under the same setup as my pothos, and it got really stretched out because the light wasn’t intense enough, even though the duration was right.

I’ve found that consistency matters more than the exact number of hours. Pick a schedule and stick with it. Plants don’t respond well to random lighting patterns where the duration changes every day.

Winter lighting needs

Winter is brutal if you’re trying to keep plants happy indoors. I live in a place with gray skies from November through March, and even my south-facing window barely provides enough light during those months. This is when grow lights go from nice-to-have to essential for me.

During winter, daylight hours are shorter and the sun is lower in the sky, which means less intense light even if you have good windows. I notice my plants stop growing or grow really slowly once we hit late fall. Some of them even go semi-dormant.

I don’t change my lighting schedule in winter, but I do move more plants under lights. In summer, my pothos can sit across the room from the window and do fine. In winter, it needs supplemental light or it starts to look sad. I shift my whole collection around in October, bringing everything closer to the lights or the windows.

One thing to watch for in winter is that grow lights can dry out the air around your plants, and indoor heating already makes the air super dry. I killed a fern this way before I figured it out. The combination of heat, low humidity, and constant light was too much. Now I run a small humidifier near my grow light setup during winter months.

According to the University of Maryland Extension, you can also reduce watering frequency in winter even if you’re using grow lights. The combination of lower temperatures and lower ambient light (even with supplemental lighting) means plants use less water. I was overwatering in winter because I kept the same schedule as summer, and I ended up with root rot in a couple of pots.

If you’re in a climate with harsh winters and you’re serious about keeping your plants thriving, a grow light setup is worth it. I notice such a difference in my plants’ health when I give them consistent light year-round instead of letting them struggle through the dark months.

Above: The tools you need to fix this.

Best cheap grow lights

You don’t need to spend a fortune to get started with grow lights. I’ve used expensive setups and cheap ones, and honestly, for basic houseplants, the budget options work fine.

The cheapest option that actually works is a basic fluorescent shop light. You can get a 4-foot T5 fixture at any hardware store for around thirty to forty dollars. Hang it over a shelf or a table, and you’re good to go. This is what I used for my first setup, and it kept about a dozen small plants happy for over a year.

For LEDs, I like the basic full-spectrum panels you can find online for around forty to sixty dollars. I have a couple of these over my plant shelves, and they’ve been running for years with no problems. Look for ones that specify the wattage and coverage area. For a small setup (maybe 2 feet by 2 feet), a 20 to 30-watt panel is plenty.

I’ve also had good luck with clip-on LED grow lights for individual plants. These cost around twenty dollars each, and they’re perfect if you just want to give extra light to one plant that’s struggling. I use one for my bird of paradise in winter because it sits too far from the window.

Avoid the super cheap LED bulbs that screw into regular lamps unless you’re just experimenting. I tried a couple of these, and they just weren’t bright enough to make a real difference. They might help a little, but don’t expect dramatic results.

The main thing with cheap grow lights is to check reviews and make sure they specify the actual wattage and light spectrum. If a listing just says “powerful grow light” with no technical details, skip it. You want to see numbers like “full spectrum,” “actual power draw,” or “PAR output” even if you don’t fully understand what they mean yet.

I haven’t bought the expensive, fancy grow lights that cost several hundred dollars because my apartment is full and I can’t justify the cost. For most people growing normal houseplants, the mid-range options work great.

Setting up grow lights changed how I think about plant care. I’m not limited to putting plants only in bright spots anymore. I have thriving pothos in my bathroom, happy philodendrons in the hallway, and a whole shelf of plants in what used to be a dark corner. If you’re struggling with low light, just try it. Start with one cheap light and see what happens. Chances are, your plants will thank you.

References

North Carolina State University Extension. “Lighting Indoor Houseplants.” NC State Extension Publications.

University of Georgia Extension. “Growing Indoor Plants with Success.” UGA Extension.

Dodd, A. N., Salathia, N., Hall, A., Kévei, E., Tóth, R., Nagy, F., Hibberd, J. M., Millar, A. J., & Webb, A. A. (2005). “Plant Circadian Clocks Increase Photosynthesis, Growth, Survival, and Competitive Advantage.” Plant Physiology, 330(6009), 630-633.

University of Maryland Extension. “Indoor Plant Care in Winter.” UMD Extension Home and Garden Information Center.