Buying Guide: Indoor Plant Lights For Vegetables and Fruits

Growing vegetables and fruits indoors requires some supplemental lighting. Even if you have wonderful south-facing windows you may not be able to sustain production outside of the summer months.

Buying supplemental lights for your plants can be confusing. They come in a variety of colors - the spectrum color not the decor color - and a variety of lighting bulbs.

This guide will walk you through what all those different terms mean and how to figure out what type of light you need for what you plan to grow.

Disclosure: This site contains affiliate links to products. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and may receive a commission for purchases made through these links at no cost to you. As you can see by the pictures these are all products I am using in my home.

Do I Need To Purchase Grow Lights?

Yes, grow lights are necessary for most of the USA if you plan to raise food plants indoors.

Making an investment in your plants will have a high return on investment when you compare it to the price of food at the grocery store. In addition, my electric bill has never been over $45 in one month at my apartment which is totally electric.

You don’t need to buy an elaborate system just one that meets your needs.

Types of Light Bulbs

There are a lot of choices when it comes to light bulbs for your plants.

Compact Fluorescent

Compact Fluorescent (CFs) are energy efficient and produce a bright white light. You can buy them in a variety of light spectrums including full spectrum, cool (blue), or warm (red).

CFs have a relatively weak light and need to be close to the plants. Typically 2” - 3” inches.

I have a compact fluorescent light over my sink where I have a plant shelf. I put starter plants and my smaller cactus up there. I leave this light on all day.

LED Light Emitting Diode (LED)

LED’s are very energy efficient and have a strong light. You can purchase them in full spectrum, in one color, or in a variety of light spectrum colors. Many of the nicer ones allow you to switch between colors.

This is my favorite small system, it fits on the kitchen counter, and is great for growing lettuce. Photo credit: Ame Vanorio

LEDs emit a stronger light and can be 12” inches from the plant.

You may also see lights that are labeled high-intensity discharge or HID lights. These LED lights are of professional grade and are used in indoor farming. They require a specialized fixture and are quite expensive.

Here is a review of my indoor lettuce using the above mentioned system!

Incandescent

These bulbs work well for lighting your home but not for growing plants. In addition, they are not energy efficient so you will not want them on for long periods of time.

Trick To Get More From Your Lamps

I often replace incandescent lights in lamps with a grow light. For instance in the picture below I stuck in a grow light bulb which is nice for a little extra light on the pothos and also works just fine for me to read by.

I have a reading light near a bookshelf that also has plants on it. I just stick a grow light bulb in my reading lamp. Maybe I will get taller! Photo credit: Ame Vanorio

Measuring Light

You will see a variety of numbers printed on the package of bulbs or grow light systems.

Watts

Watts are how much energy is consumed. This number lets you know how much money it will cost to run this light.

This was of more concern back in the day when we just had incandescent bulbs. Modern bulbs use much less energy.

When it comes to plants watts are not very important.

Lumens

Lumens tells us how bright the bulb is. Lumens is the light output and is based on human vision.

Best Lumens For Plants

Seedlings - 2500 - 5000 lumens

The system on the left is the SYEIORAOM brand. What I love is that the lights are so adjustable. They are not as bright as I had hoped but there is a window near by and most of my plants have done well under them.

Kelvin

Kelvin is often described as the coolness or warmth quality of the light. More accurately it describes color temperature.

Kelvin is an important metric when purchasing supplemental lights for food-producing plants.

If you are growing greens you will want blue light with a Kelvin range of 5000 - 7000K.

For fruit production, you will need a red light with a Kelvin rating between 3500 - 4500K.

Many full-spectrum bulbs fall into this category so read the labels. Sometimes it can be hard to find this detailed information and you may have to email the company.

I have three of these clamp on grow lights from Leoter. You can see another one above. I like that I can clamp it on a shelf or table and the arms are flexible. Here I have radishes and a mini rose growing. Photo credit: Ame Vanorio

What are PAR and PPFD?

Photosynthetic Action Radiation (PAR) and Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density (PPFD) get into a bit more science then you may wish to learn. They simply measure the effectiveness of the bulb for photosynthesis. This is measured in a wavelength.

When purchasing a grow light just know that 500-1500 μMol/m2/s is considered good.

My favorite system. Fits on my kitchen counter. I have grown lots of kale and lettuce under this system and sometimes stick my cacti under it.

Fixtures

Plant light fixtures come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The fixture you choose is going to be based on your needs. You can get a complete kit or you can build something to fit into a certain space.

Where do you plan to grow your plants? This may be your kitchen counter, within a shelving unit, or a space on the floor.

I personally use all three of the above options.

Timers

Timers are great especially if you are like me and at the end of the day realize you forgot to turn on a set of lights!

Many grow lights have timers that you can set.

Author, Ame Vanorio, is the founder of Fox Run EEC and is challenging herself to grow as many vegetables inside as possible!