Choices for Indoor Greenhouse Lights

Selecting the type of lamp to use in your indoor greenhouse is very important to determine whether your plants will survive or die in it.  And different plants need different amount of light in varying lengths per day, so be sure to ask a gardener or read the seed bag label regarding the lighting needs of your plants.  Moreover, some indoor greenhouse lighting choices are more economical than the others, so you have to factor this in your choice also.  For indoor greenhouse purposes, you can choose anyone or two of these types of light: incandescent, metal halide, high-pressure sodium, and fluorescent lamps.

For photosynthesis purposes, incandescent lamps are an inferior choice to use in your indoor greenhouse.  You’re most likely to see this type of lamp used to highlight an indoor plant for the effect, but not to support plant processes.  And not only are incandescent lamps a poor sunlight substitute, their high energy consumption is also detrimental to the environment as well as a burden to your budget.

Among the best choices for indoor greenhouse lighting is the metal halide lamps.  In the scale of 1 to 100 (100 being the perfect score) on the Color Rendering Index, metal halide lamps score from 65 to 75, and some even score in the 80s.  These types of lamp can substitute the natural white sunlight for photosynthesis vital for plants’ survival.  There are also metal halide lamps that produce red light for indoor greenhouse plants’ reproductive processes to occur.

Equally good to facilitate the reproductive processes for indoor greenhouse plants is the high-pressure sodium lamps that emits orange and red light.  However, if you use high-pressure sodium lamps solely in your indoor greenhouse, your plants would appear less healthy due to poor white light exposure.  But, metal halides can support growing plants in an indoor greenhouse if you can’t find other types to use.

Fluorescent lamps stand among the rest of the indoor greenhouse lighting choices when it comes to practicality and the total effects to the plant’s health.  Horticultural-grade fluorescent lamps produce the full colors of the spectrum so that the light can not only support photosynthesis but reproductive processes of the plants also.  Horticultural fluorescent lamps are also designed to emit all the colors of the spectrum so that your plant grows very healthy like it’s been exposed to sunlight.  Another great reason to use fluorescent lamps is that they produce just enough heat for the indoor greenhouse plants to thrive perfectly.