Twenty-two and nursing a gardening addiction in a little apartment while I figure out life. I prefer succulents and other weirdos of the plant world, but all plants are beautiful. Questions and comments are welcome. Suggestions are welcome if you have thought them through.
Rule of thumb for succulents: the further the leaf color is from green, the more sun it wants.
Most succulents are pretty sun-hungry, but anything brightly or palely colored will probably need particularly intense sunlight. If you bring plants like these indoors, they are likely to turn green (as they produce more chlorophyll in an attempt to feed themselves). Many of them will will then continue life happily in this slightly-more-boring state; however, they may also get “leggy,” and if they can’t adjust to the change in light conditions, they may rot.
Likewise, a previously-green plant may develop bright red edges or other nice coloring when moved to a sunnier spot, or as winter moves into spring. This is perfectly healthy. Watch out, however, when new leaves develop brown patches: this could be a sign of “sunburn.”
If you’re short on light and you want to keep a succulent indoors, consider a nice haworthia. Many of them need only a few hours of direct sun a day. To be certain of its needs, check with the seller of any plant.
Edited to add: Not sure if this includes cacti.
Can’t really get them all in one shot anymore, but here’s a state-of-the-garden photoset. Some things need potted up to the next size, so I guess I’ll have to break out the second grow-light. I’m pretty much out of room, otherwise.
catsandscales asked: I noticed your lamp in your recent post of your windowsill garden... I have a few of those lying around from my herpetology hobby days, what kinds of bulbs do you recommend? Have you tried to use only grow lights (away from natural sunlight)? Have you had any success with that if you have?
Hello! I wrote a thorough post about my light setup back in November. Since then, I’ve added a second clamp light with this bulb (be careful; the bulb is large. It fits in one of my clamp lights, but is just a tad too big for the other.)
I’ve never tried growing completely away from sunlight. If I did, I’d probably be pickier with my light bulbs and go with a fluorescent bulb marked “full spectrum” or “grow light.” Most of those seem to be tubes, though, not bulb-shaped. You might want to check out this post by Gayla Trail. Good luck!
Beautiful specimens of Dracaena marginata (Dragon Tree) at Haverford College’s Magill Library. I love how the taller one has grown, turning to face the sun each time its pot is rotated.
I developed my interest in succulents over the summer, not thinking about the northwest facing windows of my dorm room. Even after I moved into the room, I thought the indirect sunlight would suffice. However, as the days shortened, signs that my plants were unhappy started to appear. My echeverias started to get leggy. My Baby Toes rotted, then one of the echeverias followed suit. I realized something needed to be done, so I did some research on the Web, then headed down to my local hardware store. I put together my own lighting setup, and I’ve noticed considerable improvement in my existing plants, and have new growth on cuttings.
The light bulb is the most important part of the setup. You’ll probably want to go with a nice, bright fluorescent daylight (5000k to 6500k color temperature) bulb of some kind. Florescent bulbs don’t let off the possibly-plant-damaging amount of heat incandescent bulbs and some other types do, and are more readily available in the correct range of color. I am using a compact fluorescent bulb, 5000k, 26 watt (100 watt equivalent) that cost about $6. I didn’t want a tube-style bulb that would get in the way of my window or my view of my plants. The only option between the approximate wattage bulb I bought and the tubes seemed to be those in the 60 watt range. I read in Amazon reviews that the 60-some watt bulbs hum and crackle, which wasn’t something I wanted in my dorm. (And having spent some time with the 26 watt, I suspect 60-some watts would be overkill in my situation.) (Edited to add: As my plant collection increased, I ended up getting a second, 45 watt bulb. It was brighter, my plants seemed happier/less leggy with it, and the hum was not distracting. I will warn you, though, that the base is large and did not quite fit into one of my clamp lights (though it did with the other clamp light and there was hardly any difference between them).)
I spent a lot of time searching the Web, attempting to determine the best wattage and color temperature (color temperature is the color of the light, not the heat), only to find a million competing theories. (One useful thing I did learn is it doesn’t have to say “grow light” on the bulb packaging for it to help plants.) Finally, I stumbled across a log of a listserve, where a post by an experienced gardener spoke something that sounded like truth: It doesn’t matter exactly. Plants like light. Just give them something vaguely close to daylight. (In my relief, I neglected to bookmark this page.)
To hold the light, I chose a clamp light. It’s cheap, and I don’t mind that it’s a bit industrial-looking. I like it because it will take oversize light bulbs, like high-wattage CFLs, reflects light nicely, and you can put it as close or as far from your plants as you feel necessary. It should be about $8. Here’s one on Amazon. It’s not exactly the same as the one I bought, but similar. You could also use a desk lamp or any light with a reflective hood; just make sure it won’t bend over with time and let the bulb get too close to your plant.
I hung my clamp light with two large command hooks. Each hook can hold 5lbs, and I think I’m well under the limit with two. There’s also an extra-large hook that can hold 7 lbs by itself, but I already had the two. You could also use nails if feasible (or actually clamp the clamp light to something, ha).
It’s important that plants have consistency in their light schedule, so my setup includes an appliance timer. I bought the cheapest version available at my local hardware store. It’s hard to adjust to exact times, but it is fairly consistent from day to day, and I’m satisfied with it. I paid $10, but you can probably find a similar product for less at a chain store.
After hanging the light (and being certain to follow the instructions on the command hook), I arranged the plants so that the most light-loving were closest to the light, with medium-light plants, like my haworthias, farther away. I keep the shades up, so the plants can get as much natural light as possible. The light is on from about 8:30AM to 7:00PM. This setup seems to be working pretty well.
Additional resources:
dixieminnesoda asked: Hi. Thanks for the advice. I did read some stuff about them getting leggy from too little sun. I moved it indoors because it was getting cold at night. I don't have an area where my succulents can get sun all day :( It looks as though your blog is pretty new but it's already very interesting!
I’m glad you like my blog :) I needed an outlet for my plant-related excitement :D My natural light situation is pretty cruddy too (my E. ‘lola’ is in much the same condition as yours), so I threw together my own plant light set up—a clamp light, a compact fluorescent ‘daylight’ bulb (~27 watts and ~5500k), and an appliance timer, total ~$25 (I already had command hooks and an extension cord). I’ll put together together a post detailing my setup at some point in the near future, and the picture in my second post may also give you an idea.
