Garden Plants and Seedlings Need Adequate Light to Grow Indoors
Posted on January 9th, 2009 by Sharon Sweeny in Indoor Gardening, Starting Seeds
These garlic chive seedlings have been growing too far from the fluorescent lights and have become "spindly" and "leggy."
Garden plants overwintering inside, along with seedlings we’ve started to get a jump on the growing season, need much more light indoors than we realize. Garden plants, especially those that require full sun outside in the garden, need direct artificial light in order for them to grow well inside. Seedlings need direct artificial light only a few inches above their tops or they will grow spindly and get leggy. We want short, stocky plants with strong stems.
In contrast, “houseplants,” virtually without exception, are plants that grow in the shade of a canopy of trees in their natural jungle habitat. Their natural requirement for less light is the reason we can grow houseplants so well without additional artificial light.
What is the best way to provide adequate light for our overwintering garden plants and seedlings we’re starting indoors to get a jump on the growing season?
If you have south-facing windows with a sill wide enough to accommodate a pot, your seedlings or overwintering garden plants will grow fairly well with this level of light. However, the short days of the winter months will rob the plants of some vigor.
To insure that your plants growing on the windowsill get enough natural daylight, set them on the sill directly next to the window pane and insure that no curtain, shade, or blind is between the window glass and the plants. A window with western exposure will give you slightly less vigorous growth than a window with southern exposure.
For exceptional results overwintering garden plants and/or starting seeds for your spring garden, grow them under fluorescent lights. You will get the best results from fluorescent bulbs that indicate they contain the full light spectrum and emit light similar to natural sunlight. Please note that these are not “grow” lights; they are full spectrum fluorescent lights.
For best results, place the plants so their tops are only a few inches from the lights. It is imperative that you find a way to raise the level of the lights as the plants grow to maintain their robust, straight-up growth. Make sure to turn the plants frequently to insure even growth.
Of course, the ideal way to overwinter garden plants and start seeds for the garden is in a greenhouse. Some day I hope to be lucky enough to have one of those.
Until then, fluorescent shop lights are the way to go.
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