Getting the best grow lights for succulents boosts their healthy growth cycle, especially if they do not get enough daylight. Otherwise, the leaves will start to droop. Their once vibrant colors will begin to dull and grow incredibly elongated than usual.
Different types and factors define how adequate a grow light is for your succulents. The best option for grow lights for indoor plants are full- spectrum LED lights as they imitate natural daylight best. LED lights are also energy-efficient and don’t emit a high amount of heat, damaging the nearby plants.
Best Grow Lights for Succulents Buying Guide
Grow lights for plants come in many forms or types and various colors and intensity. Explore why getting the best grow lights for succulents is necessary and how to choose one.
Why Do Plants Require Grow Lights?
When it starts freezing outside, it’s time to bring those beautiful succulents inside the house to preserve them. Although this type of plant will thrive indoors, they need a fair amount of daylight for healthy growth. However, that may not be possible if they are indoors during winter, and that’s when the best grow lights for succulents help.
Although winter is the dormant period for most succulents, when they don’t require as much light as during summer, they still need some. Plants won’t die without sunlight for a few months. However, they like the sun, which helps keep them healthy and retain their compact shape and bright colors.
Also, succulents won’t go through real dormancy with forced changes in light and temperature. However, they still need to get sunlight at least 6 hours each day for a healthy growth cycle, even in their dormant period.
Keeping succulent indoors without any light from the sun will cause them to get elongated. They will also lose their vibrant green color. However, getting the best grow lights can help with that, so by the time spring rolls around, your plants remain healthy.
Grow lights help mimic natural daylight, which can boost ideal succulent growth while they are indoors.
How to Choose the Right Light?
There are various grow lights you can use for indoor succulents, with different types, colors, and placement. Some are better than the others in preserving the beauty and growth integrity if your plants.
Type of Light
There are 2 popular types used for grow lights: Fluorescent lights and LED lights.
Fluorescent bulbs or tubes are the most traditional lighting system. They are the best grow lights if you are looking for the cheapest option. Fluorescent grow lights are suitable for small to medium indoor plant collections.
However, they are only cost-effective for short term applications as fluorescent lights, especially the bulbs, have a short lifespan. They are also known for producing a high amount of heat, which is harmful to succulents when placed too close to them.
LED or light-emitting diodes are newer and more energy-efficient lighting options than fluorescent lamps. They also don’t have harmful heat output similar to fluorescents, making them the ideal for confined spaces. LED lights are a bit more expensive than fluorescent lights, but they are more cost-effective in the long run.
Aside from these two, there are also other types of lamps used for plants, although they are mostly for commercial purposes. It includes MH of metal halide lamps, HPS of high-pressure sodium lamps, and HID or high-density discharge lamps.
Color of Light
There are different colors of lights and plants react to them differently.
Blue light is the most useful light in terms of boosting plant growth while indoors. Chlorophyll absorbs blue light efficiently, which readily helps convert energy during photosynthesis. It also promotes leaf growth while vegging.
Red light is another critical color for plant growth. It encourages the flowering stage.
However, grow lights that combine both blue and red diodes are even better for indoor succulents. Full-spectrum or daylight spectrum grow lights that provide all range of colors are the best as it imitates natural sunlight best.
How Far Away Should the Light Be?
When succulents are outside, they benefit from the high intensity of sunlight. While indoors, they also need to receive around the same value to benefit from the grow light. Setting the lamp too far away from the plants, while indoors, cuts the light intensity, reducing the benefits they get.
For plants to benefit from grow lights, they have to be close to each other. Get as high intensity from the light source as possible.
The ideal distance of succulents from the grow light will depend primarily on the type of light you are using.
For fluorescent grow lights, a foot distance from the lamp is ideal for most succulents. Meanwhile, when using LED grow lights, the perfect range would be between 1.5 to two feet. Putting them another foot away from the lamp will decrease the light intensity by around three-fourths.
Color Temperature
Another key in finding the best grow light for plants is to look for the ideal color temperature that replicates daylight best. Natural daylight’s color temperature is between 5000K to 6500K.
Getting a grow light with at least 5000K can help stimulate plant growth while they are indoors. However, to boost the plant’s flowering stage, a grow light with a 3000K color temperature is ideal.
Light Brightness/Intensity
Plants thrive best in natural daylight, so the best grow lights for succulents should imitate sunlight best. Light brightness and intensity get measured in lumens. The rule of thumb is the more lumens a bulb has, the brighter the light it will produce. For succulents, the brightness for grow lights is at least 2000 lumens.
However, high-intensity lights consume higher wattage. The key is to look for grow light that provides the highest brightness for the fewest watts.
Frequently Ask Questions
Are LED grow lights good for succulents?
Yes, LED grow lights are good for any type of plant.
Since LEDs don’t emit PAR radiation like an HID grow light, it’s perfect for succulents and other plants that require low-light environments.
If you’re using your LED grow light solely to provide extra lumens during the day, be sure to place the light only inches away from your plants.
What type of light is best for succulents?
A climate-controlled room with indirect sunlight is best for succulents.
Succulents need plenty of indirect, but not direct, light to thrive and any heavy sun exposure can lead them to dry out and eventually die.
Can succulents get too much light?
Succulents can get too much light. Too much light from the direct sun will scorch the leaves. Succulents prefer filtered sun in a windowsill or a south-facing window.
Shade in the morning and afternoon is ideal, but occasional windows with filtered sun in the late afternoon provide some warmth and energy to the plants for when they naturally go dormant in wintertime.
The best way to know how much sun your succulent needs is by reading its tag – it should have one! If not, try different locations inside until you find one that’s adequate. In general, though, the full sun generally isn’t necessary – just enough so it gets “a little” bit of sunshine from time.
Conclusion
Succulents need an ample amount of sunlight to retain their compact shape and vibrant color. Otherwise, they will be looking lackluster and elongated.
Keep your succulents growing and blooming even while indoors by adding the right kind of grow light. The best grow lights for succulents can imitate natural daylight, giving your plants a continuous growth cycle.
