Garden Grow Lights
Crash Course
There are many places where you can go wrong when it comes to garden grow lights for an indoor garden. The following advice will help you choose what grow lights to use, how best to use different lights, and some things to consider when using garden grow lights.
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Only three types of lights are really cut out for growing plants. They are fluorescent grow lights, metal halide (MH) grow lights, and high pressure sodium (HPS) grow lights. Any of these can be used as a garden grow light.
Light looses it's "punch" quickly as it travels away from the bulb, so you have to keep the plants within a certain distance from the light.
Fluorescent Grow Lights
In general, fluorescent grow lights are used for clones and seedlings. Plants can be placed as close to the light as you like, but I usually keep the tops 1 to 4 inches away. You may continue to use fluorescent grow lights for the vegetative stage, but you will need to use more of them to keep the growth nice and healthy. Plants grown under fluorescent lights usually do O.K. as long as you keep them within 24 inches from the bulb.
When it comes time to force flowering, plants grown this way must be given a few hours of high pressure sodium light each day for two or three days before they can handle the much brighter light (which is required for good fruiting/flowering).
Metal Halide Grow Lights
Metal halide garden grow lights are also used for the vegetative stage of plant growth. Plant tops under metal halide must be kept 12 to 18 inches from the bulb or they will burn (especially in the hot spot!). Metal halide will support nice, healthy plant growth up to 24 inches or so, and they will reach this height much more quickly than with fluorescents. Plants do not need to be "broken in" to sodium light when grown first under metal halide light.
High Pressure Sodium Grow Lights
High pressure sodium
lights are used for the flowering stage of growth (to produce flower buds, fruits, and vegetables). You must keep the plant tops 12 to 18 inches from this light, also, or they will burn.
Plants in the flowering stage require much more light to develop properly compared to the vegetative stage. Your garden should finish with well-developed fruits (or flowers) on the top 12 to 24 inches of the plants, depending on a several different factors... see the different lighting pages for more info.
Special Considerations
Before using garden grow lights, you should consider a few things, such as...
- The heat they produce
- The electricity they use
- How to be safe with both electricity
AND water in your garden
All these considerations will have an impact on your overall garden design, so it is very helpful to have your garden design plan (at least a rough idea) before you begin.
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