Are your indoor succulents losing their luster? Well, this is a common household problem, especially in the wintertime. Most homeowners complain about their succulents becoming dull in the winter season and sometimes in summers as well. Here’s one thing that you should know – most of the succulent plants in your home love sunlight. When they are not getting enough sunlight, they become dull and lifeless. They even stop growing to their full potential. And that’s where the grow lights for succulents come handy.
A grow light can swiftly take your succulents from lifeless to “full-of-life” in just a couple of weeks. In this article, you will find how a grow light can help your succulents to blossom like never before and where you can buy the best grow lights for your indoor succulents.
Do Indoor Succulents Really Need Grow Lights To Grow?
The short answer is not necessarily, but they sure help. Succulents need sunlight to grow indoors and stay vibrant. If your room has a window and it lets ample sunlight enter your room, your sun-loving succulents should grow fine in any season, including winters. But, if your room has limited or absolutely no access to sunlight, then you should definitely consider getting a grow light for them.
But then you might think I already have light bulbs in your room, why grow lights? Well, the existing lighting in your room is often too dim and is of the wrong wavelength to create thriving conditions for succulents. While some plants can do just fine in low lighting, but most of them start getting dull with time, especially in cold weather. That’s the reason why most succulent species start fading when kept indoors for months. And therefore, we highly recommend supplemented light for your sun-loving succulents so that they can grow to their full potential regardless of whether they’re getting enough sunlight or not.
You can find many types of grow lights in your nearby stores or online stores like Amazon.com, which replicate the sun’s photosynthetic spectrum to give your indoor succulents synthetic sunlight to grow better.
Types of Grow Lights for Succulents
Grow lights come in different varieties, sizes, and looks with different functions to perform. You should know about each one of them so you can weigh their pros and cons to choose the best grow light for your succulents. Here we go:
Fluorescent Grow Lights
These are the most recommended type of grow light for indoor succulents. They’re available in different shapes and sizes. You can easily find them in your nearby utility store or the online stores as well. We recommend buying T5 or T8 tubes or bulbs with the daylight spectrum, offering a color temperature of around 6500K.
If there is no room for a long tube in your room, you can switch to Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) bulb, which is relatively inexpensive. It is an ideal option for succulents on your desk. The only disadvantage to CFL bulbs is that they can emit heat. Therefore, it is recommended to put them at a little distance from your succulents in comparison to the tube.
Fluorescent growers are the best types of growers for your succulents because they provide them with a full spectrum of light ranging from red to UV. These lights do not irritate your eyes and provide an optimum environment for succulents to grow efficiently in winters.
Tip: Keep your fluorescent tube light 6-8″ away and CFL 10-12″ away from your succulents.
LED Grow Lights
The LED grow lights are capable of providing your succulents with the light of specific wavelengths. They deliver a very narrow spectrum of lights to your succulents, whereas your succulents only care about the blue and red light. On the contrary, they are cheap, produce less heat, and save a lot of energy.
In some cases, LED lights can trigger succulents to behave differently as they’re getting a specific type of light. For example, it can make them bloom instead of growing.
LED grow lights are not suitable for UV light succulents because of their low intensity, and they will only be green in color the whole winter.
If you go with the LED grow lights for your succulents, we recommend buying full-spectrum white LEDs.
High-Intensity Discharge (HID) Grow Lights & Metal Halide
We won’t recommend these growing lights for personal use because they are costly. HID growers are mostly used by commercial grow operations. They produce high amounts of light and heat to create natural growing conditions for indoor succulents. They are excellent and probably the best for plants, but they can consume a lot of energy and result in expensive electricity bills.
Which type of grow light should I buy?
We would recommend fluorescent growers for your home or small scale commercial operations. But if you are commercially growing succulents on a large scale, you should go with HID grow lights.
Here are things you should look for in an ideal grow light:
- Light Output: 300-800 lumens per square foot.
- Wattage: This will tell you how energy-efficient your light is.
- Spectrum: Go for full spectrum lights so they can produce a range of wavelengths for your succulents.
- Color Temperature:Should be between 4000K-7000K. The ideal color temperature is 6500K.
Best Grow Lights for Succulents Available On Amazon
You don’t necessarily have to visit any store for buying grow lights because you can easily find them on Amazon. Here are our top 5 picks for best grow lights in 2020:
1. T5 Fluorescent – 6500K – 800 Series Phosphors
Having a natural daylight color, this T5 fluorescent tube is perfect for succulents as it produces the recommended heat and light of 6500K intensity. The average lifetime of this fluorescent bulb is 36000 hours, making it quite efficient and cost-effective in the long term.
2. Barrina LED T5 Integrated Single Fixture – Pack of Six
If you have succulents in your house’s multiple rooms, you should consider buying a pack of T5 fluorescent lights as they will be more economical. This light produces more than 2200 lumens output and 6500K super bright light for your succulents to thrive in optimum conditions. It is very energy efficient and can save around 65% on your electricity. Each light bulb in the pack comes with three years warranty.
3. Philips LED 433557 Compact Fluorescent T2 Twister
If you want to go with a more energy-efficient alternative, go with these CFL light growers by Philips. These bulbs are excellent at mimicking natural sunlight and create an inviting atmosphere for the succulents. These 6500K CFL bulbs are perfect for your indoor plants to grow effectively.
4. DuroLux T5 Grow Light – 2 FT 4 Lamps
This fluorescent light fixture works great for your sun-loving succulents by producing the high-light output of 10,000 lumens. It comes with four 6500K fluorescent tubes, chains, hanging hooks, and cords – probably everything you need to install the light. It comes with five years warranty and functions light professional grow light. The price is worth it.
5. Ankane LED Grow Lights with 5 Dimmable Levels
If you want to stick with a colorful LED grow light alternative, this one is the best. This LED light produces the best green and red light spectrum, which diverts the targeted wavelength for indoor plants. It comes with 12 blue LED chips and 24 red LED chips that contribute to effective germination, flowering, and growth of plants.
How to use a grow light?
Once you have purchased ideal light for your succulents, the next step is to install them right. First of all, you should find a place in your home where you can do both:
- Place your succulents
- Install the light
Once you’re done finding the place, you should focus on the distance between your succulents and that light. Maintaining an ideal distance between your succulents and grow lights is very important for their growth. If the light is too close, the heat can burn the plants. And if it is too far, your succulents might not get enough light.
So here is our recommendation on the distance you should maintain between light and the plants:
- If you’re using fluorescent tube lights, keep the distance between 6″-12″.
- If you’re using LED lights, the ideal distance would be 16″-20″.
How much light should you provide to your succulents?
Well, it is a little tricky to find out the optimum amount of light your succulents need. It is always a great idea to give as much as you can. Installing the light right above your plants is the best way to do that. Maintaining a certain distance is essential, and that depends on the type of grow light you’re using. And make sure your light is covering the entire area where you’ve placed your succulents.
For example, if you have succulents over 1×4 square feet on your desk or shelf, you should probably go for four T5 and 4 feet long bulbs of 32 watts each. This is the best way to provide your succulents with an ample amount of light.
How long should I keep grow light ON for succulents?
We think it would be ideal for keeping the light ON for 12 hours and then OFF for the next 12 hours. This will give enough time for photosynthesis. At the same time, you should keep monitoring your succulents for too much or too little light. This video will help you figure that out. You can adjust the timings accordingly.
Where can I buy my grow lights?
You can easily get grow lights in your nearby store, but buying online can be a cheaper option as the market is very competitive online, and you may get a good discount. Buying from reputed online stores like Amazon also ensures fast delivery and respective warranties.
Also Read: Why & How To Repot Succulents?