Plants will successfully grow in a variety of environments. Although plants can use indoor light sources, people may not understand what lighting conditions are best.Fluorescent lights are cheap to operate, have a long lifespan, and are widely available. Gardeners should use a mixture of cool-white and plant growth fluorescent lights. Normal incandescent lights can be substituted for plant growth fluorescent lights, but they are more expensive to maintain.
A lighting system should be spaced approximately 6 to 12 inches away from most plants. Although fluorescent lights produce light along the length of their tubes, plants should be located beneath the center of the tubes. The tube ends emit less intense light. The overall light intensity should match the plants' growing needs for the best results.
Plants should receive fluorescent light for about 16 to 18 hours per day if no additional outside light is available. If sunlight is available, lighting systems should be run for shorter periods to avoid drying plants out. Gardeners should consider hooking a timer and watering system up to their lights for maximum growing efficiency.
Most asked Fluorescent Questions