Shining the right lights on your indoor plants
Edmonton's shift from darkness to light is in full swing, and both people and plants are benefiting from it.
One of the three essential elements for growing indoor plants, light is the easiest to manage — it's all about degrees — yet understanding the basic relationship and why plants need light will help you assist your green pals.
In a houseplant forum on Facebook recently, Tylar Lund asked, “Are there any plants that would like a bathroom with zero freaking windows? Is there a bat plant or a cave-dweller plant? I'm clueless!”
I, too, have a windowless bathroom, and especially for my humidity-loving plants, I wish there were a specimen that would be happy living without light. While there are exceptions to every rule — fungi can grow in the dark, but that's not what I want growing in my bathroom — plants need light.
First, let's break down the science to its most basic form.
Light is made up of photons, extremely small energy-packed particles vibrating at a certain frequency. How fast or slow they vibrate determines the speed at which this energy moves, also known as its wavelength. The slower the wavelength, the less energy is transmitted, which means it's a cooler colour, and the quicker wavelengths carry more energy, making them hotter. These two wavelengths of energy are essential for plant health.
Like the sun, the white light we see — full-spectrum light — is all seven colours combined. From hottest to coolest, they are: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Of all these colours, the red and blue wavelengths are the most easily absorbed by plants.
On the receiving end, plants contain a few molecules impacted by light, the most prominent one is chlorophyll, which gives plants their green colour. When light energy comes in contact with a plant, the chlorophyll absorbs it and turns it into food. This is the phenomenon of photosynthesis.
So, the short answer to Lund's question is that no houseplant will survive in an environment without light. But there are workarounds, some technical, some creative. `BLURPLE' LIGHTS
Grow lights, often in shades of pink and purple, are a great way to give your plants the healthy light they need during our dark winter, or in corners of your house.
Cindy Giannini and her husband Mario, a master grower, have owned Hydro-lite in Edmonton for 22 years, specializing in growing plants without natural light.
“I'm always expressing to people to understand the difference between the colour of what the light bulb is in your house and what it is,” she says of her time working with customers.
We primarily use incandescent lights in our home, where grow lights are almost always LEDS (light emitting diodes). Incandescent light is a hotter light, which presents a danger of burning plants, and it uses more energy. LEDS emit red and blue wavelengths more efficiently, and as a bonus, make us feel better too.
“It touches the sad part of our lives as far as giving us those A and D vitamin from the artificial light,” she insists.
Giannini calls the LEDS emitting more red and blue wavelengths “blurple” lights, and with their increasing prevalence in our homes, having their own term seems like a good fit.
Whether it's the blurple grow lights or full-spectrum white bulbs, your plants will be happy with either, but gauge how close they are to the bulb the same way you'd determine the light intensity for your particular plant needs. A cactus needs bright light so don't stick that baby in a corner. At the same time, a philodendron or calathea will quickly sunburn in direct light so give them some distance or shade from the light source.
If you do have a windowless room, setting up a lamp with a grow bulb will do the trick.
DOPPELGÄNGER
Another solution is to buy two of the same plants, ideally not plants with high light needs, and swap them back and forth every week between a windowless bathroom and a spot with all the natural or artificial light that plant needs.
Check out my plant journey as Jenny Eff on Instagram, or follow along @effin_plants.