The sun always shines in the home of most houseplants. Not with us – therefore they now need a replacement from the socket in the winter.
When plants drop their leaves or the young shoots are much too long and only have a few leaves, lack of light is usually the reason in winter. the short ones, often cloudy days, a place for that, which is more than ^ Im away from window B, I can even cause problems for shade-tolerant species such as spider plants or ivy. Quite apart from that, , that they care: Even magnificent specimens would not come into their own in semi-darkness, because you hardly see them.
So light is needed – of course not just any, but one, that can replace the sun for plants. Normal light bulbs are just as unsuitable as bluish colored ones, which are often offered as daylight lamps. The red component is far too high for both. The light from fluorescent tubes is extremely plant-friendly; especially those marked as "cold white" offer a spectrum very similar to sunlight. They are inexpensive, easy to install and consume little electricity. Only drawback: They don't look very homely.
Different energy saving lamps, which also contain fluorescent material and thus have the same advantages as the tubes. That they are much more expensive, this more than makes up for it, that they can be used in such a simple and versatile way. Every existing lamp can be used as a plant light when fitted with an energy-saving lamp. Above all, when individual plants are to be illuminated, energy-saving lamps are ideal, because they do not get very hot and can be placed at a short distance from the plant, which of course increases the light intensity.
Plant lights equipped with metal halide lamps are ideal for illuminating groups of plants, because they have a high degree of efficiency with low power consumption. still 1 m from a 50-watt lamp becomes a circle of 160 cm diameter with 800 Lux supplied. With a 20-watt energy-saving lamp, this value is 80 cm height in a circle of 120 cm diameter reached. The only disadvantage of these lights is their relatively high purchase price.
sunshine on demand
As residents of the subtropics or tropics, most indoor plants are used to twelve hours of light a day. The artificial sun shouldn't shine any longer either, because the plants need several hours of darkness for their metabolism.
How many hours the grow lights should be on, depends on the room temperature, the light intensity and of course the light requirements of the respective plant. The warmer the room is, the more light is needed, the cooler, the less is sufficient. Independently of, what plant it is, but should be around nine hours a day at an ambient temperature of 5° to 10° C 700 lux be present. More light can harm, for example when the plant is dormant and has reduced metabolism. In the warm apartment, sun-loving plants need about 1500 to 2000 Lux, shade lovers are content with 800 to 1000 Lux. Flowering plants and those with variegated foliage require more light than green plants, Die meisten Pflanzen fühlen sich wohl, when they get that much light nine hours a day, as you need. That means, that the plant light can remain switched off on sunny days, on cloudy days, on the other hand, the full nine hours is required. If turns out, that the light source is too weak for a plant, it can also be left on longer. for nine hours 900 Lux have the same effect as twelve hours 600 Lux. However, the light is not good for longer – then it's time for bed.