Most plants being grown indoors fail to flourish because of insufficient light or the wrong type of light. Solve this easily by installing indoor plant lights. Many types are available, and most are inexpensive, easy to install, energy-efficient and provide excellent results. Give adequate light to indoor plants and they'll return the favor with vigorous, healthy growth. This goes for seedlings being started indoors as well as for established potted plants and trees.
Fluorescent Lights
Use fluorescent bulbs for the best results in most indoor plant-lighting situations. Choose "warm-white" fluorescent bulbs or tubes. This kind provides enough light spectrum for good plant growth. Fluorescent lights stay cool, are energy efficient, easily available in many shapes and sizes, and can be used in decorative fixtures as well as in greenhouses. Don't use fluorescent bulbs listed as "cool-white," "white" or "daylight." These do not provide the color spectrum of light that plants need.
Incandescent Lights
Avoid using incandescent bulbs for plant lighting. These nearly outmoded bulbs use more electricity than fluorescent bulbs and fail to provide the kind of light that plants need. They produce too much red-spectrum light and not enough of the blue spectrum for good plant growth. In addition, incandescent bulbs produce heat and should not be placed too near plants, reducing their slight effectiveness even more. Fluorescent lights stay cool no matter how long they are on.
Grow Lights
Install these special fluorescent lights, usually in tube form, for indoor greenhouse settings, not in decorative areas. These lights emit more red light than other fluorescent bulbs, thus balancing the blue and red spectra. They can be nearly twice as expensive as regular fluorescent lights, so many home gardeners intersperse them with regular tubes. A good ratio is one grow light per two regular tubes.
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