Succulents are desert plants and they like strong direct sunlight, so it’s important for indoor gardeners to keep these plants happy with a high-quality light source. Read below to learn how to choose the best grow light for succulents and watch your little guys turn as happy as can be! These lights can all help you to germinate, root, rapidly grow, and even flower your succulents – all indoors!
We’ll consider and examine the level of maintenance, ease of use, durability, and value of each light in the reviews below. Here is a quick link to each product before we get started:
- Monios-L 4ft LED Grow Light – Best For Large Amounts of Succulents
- SANSI 24 W LED Grow Light – Best High Performance Bulb
- Hydrofarm EnviroGro Desktop Plant Light – Most Stylish Light for Any Room
- Philips LED Compact Fluorescent T2 Twister – Simplest and Most Affordable Grow Light
- EMMMSUN LED Grow Light – Top Choice & Best Value
*If you’re in a hurry, I’d recommend the EMMMSUN LED Grow Light as the best one. It’s an all-in-one light at a great price with three spectrum options, is dimmable, and a timer built-in. This makes this light perfect for the beginner, the busy succulent grower, and the expert alike, with several helpful features at a fantastic price.
Do my succulents need a grow light?
Your succulents may need a grow light if they are living indoors. Oftentimes, a standard lamp has an insufficient amount of brightness and the incorrect wavelengths for your plant to reach the full spectrum of light.
If you live in a home that does not have south or west-facing windows where your plants can be placed, your plants will have an even harder time getting the light they need.
Even those who get great indoor sunlight may want to consider getting a grow light for their succulents in wintertime when sunlight is limited.
There are two tell-tale signs of a succulent needing more light. Firstly, it’s colors will pale and lose their richness. Next, it will elongate its stem and become “lanky”. This is because it is searching for a better light source. This makes succulents both less attractive and less hardy. This condition is known as etiolation.
What should I look for in a grow light?
There are two types of lights that are best for indoor succulents: light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and fluorescent grow lights. Let’s look into the details of both options:
Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs)
There are many benefits to using an LED grow light for succulents. Succulent plants respond very well to the blue and red dominant light, providing them with a proper spectrum of light for their health.
LEDs are low-intensity lights and are therefore more energy-efficient and less hot. This may be ideal if you are in a small space and need to have your lights very close to your plants. A cooler light, like an LED, will minimize the issue of “cooking” the plant by keeping it too close to hot lights.
Unfortunately, the low intensity of the lights does not put the succulents under “sun-stress” that they would be exposed to in the natural light. This “sun-stress” is what causes succulents to “blush” and produce colors other than green. This can be prevented by putting succulents under a light in winter, and in a sunny windowsill during summertime.
Fluorescent Lights
These lights have been a popular choice for plant growers for several decades. Traditionally fluorescent lights come in a long tube shape that maximizes light on a large surface area.
For smaller homes, you can get a CFL (compact fluorescent light) bulb. In this bulb, the light tubes are spiraled into a shape that is similar to a traditional bulb. This is ideal for those with a small number of plants, or for someone trying to provide light to their succulents that live on a desk, bookshelf, or anywhere else where it may be hard to set up large lights. They also give off a white light, which may be less off-putting than LEDs with colored lights.
These lights are full-spectrum, meaning that they will provide your plant with light ranging from red to ultraviolet frequencies. Because of the high output of these lights, they can get quite hot, and will need to be distanced from your plants further than a normal fluorescent tube.
How do I use a grow light?
The first thing to consider when setting up and using your grow light is where you’ll put it. Look for a place where there is a little more space than you think you’ll need, and where no one can easily disturb it.
Distance
Distance between your succulents and your light is the next consideration. You want to make sure your light isn’t too close to your plants or it may overheat and burn them. As a general rule of thumb, make sure to space your lights at least 6” from your plants, and do not place your lights further than 30”. Of course, the distance of your lights will affect the coverage over the total area. Lights set further away will provide a larger volume of light for your plants, making this a good option for those with many plants.
For Fluorescent bulbs and tube lights place them 6”-12” away from your succulents.
For LED light place them 18” – 24” away from your succulents.
Stimulating growth with light temperature
Another consideration you may have when using your grow light is choosing a color temperature that is best for your growing needs.
Color temperature helps us describe the quality of light and is measured in degrees of Kelvin (K) on a scale from 1,000 – 10,000. A lower kelvin number will appear more yellow, while a higher number will appear more white and blue-hued.
If you would like your plant to grow quickly, a temperature range around 6500k is great. If you would like to see flowers and blooms, you can use a 3000k light. A range of 3,000K – 6000K is healthy for your succulents.
How long should I leave the grow light on?
Outdoor succulents need about 6 hours of bright sunlight throughout the day. Since the quality of indoor light is different, they will need about twice as much light. To make this easy, you can give your succulents 12 hours of light and 12 hours with them off each day. You can go up to 14 hours of light if you think your plants may need an extra boost.
Make sure to place your lights indirectly if possible, to avoid “sunburning” the succulents. You may also want to regularly rotate your lights or plants to make sure any areas that are in the shadows also get exposure.
You’ll know if your plants need more light because they will lose their plump form and begin to grow long and thin, stretching and searching for light.
Best Grow Lights For Succulents: Reviews
Monios-L 4ft LED Grow Light
The Monios-L LED light is an excellent choice for those with a larger indoor plant setup, or even a grow room. It can be plugged into additional lights, allowing for an even larger installation if you need more than 4FT of lights.
It is lightweight and comes with jump rings for hanging, making it very easy to set up. There is also a 2FT size that can fit perfectly under a kitchen cabinet for a discreet but powerful kitchen grow light.
This light comes with grow reflectors, which can help increase the light efficiency by 17-20%, saving you money on your electric bill, and helping your plants grow faster. They are also LED lights, making them more energy-efficient than a traditional fluorescent tube.
SANSI 24 W LED Grow Light
This SANSI grow light is the perfect combination of a specialty item and a simple item. It operates like a standard lightbulb and will fit an E26 socket (the most common size), meaning that it is super easy to screw this bulb into any outlet you have available. It also doesn’t need a lampshade due to its directional light that is aimed at plants.
The coverage area of this bulb is about 4.25FT, meaning that you can use it for several plants at once. You should space this light about 18” – 24” away from your succulents for optimal conditions.
This bulb is a Ceramic LED, which in contrast to Aluminum LEDs, is non-conductive, has fewer parts, making it more efficient. This makes the SANSI bulb a great value for its cost. Because this bulb is full-spectrum, it is particularly good for rate and variegated succulents.
This light is great in almost any room in the house since it is white light, opposed to many LEDs that emit red and blue light. Although it doesn’t require a shade, using a clamp light can help you to perfectly position your bulb anywhere in the home.
Hydrofarm EnviroGro Desktop Plant Light
This Hydrofarm Plant Light is a perfect stylish option for succulents that are in communal areas such as bedrooms, living rooms, and home offices. There is a desktop version and a floor plant version, accommodating different sizes and setups of plants. The desktop is also height adjustable and can raise from 15” up to 25.5”, providing even more size options.
It includes a 27-watt CFL bulb that provides valances fluorescent light. This lamp can also work well for seed starting, or even as a reading light. Its versatility makes it very valuable for the indoor succulent grower who wants a multifunctional light to avoid bulk and clutter.
Philips LED Compact Fluorescent T2 Twister
This Philips LED bulb is as simple as it gets when it comes to grow light options. It’s also one of the most affordable options for home plant lighting.
These bulbs fit into almost any standard base and can also easily be hung overhead as a bare bulb for the most light coverage. I recommend using a clamp lamp so that you can clip your bulb to any surface and adjust the angle of your light as needed.
With succulents, these bulbs work best when placed about 8” away from your plants. Their bright blue light registers at 6500-Kelvin, which is very close to the bright sun succulents are used to in desert-like environments.
EMMMSUN LED Grow Light
The EMMMSUN Grow Light is flexible, affordable, and perfect for succulents in tricky spaces that need accessible light. There are three rotatable sticks of light on this unit, making it easy to provide full and even light to your plants. It attaches with a sturdy metal clamp, making it great for clipping onto tables, desks, and shelves. It can be powered with a USB or wall outlet depending on your needs.
5 brightness levels and 3 light spectrum modes allow for you to control your lights based on the growth phase of your plants, or if anything goes wrong with your plants. This means that this light is ideal for germinating, rooting, flowering, and fruiting.
The timer feature takes the show with this product. It can be set to provide your succulents with 3, 6, or 12 hours of light as needed. This is perfect for people with busy schedules, travelers, or people who want a simple and easy indoor growing routine.
Summary
Gone are the days of elaborate, complicated, expensive, and dangerous grow light options. All of the recommendations above are perfect for managing both a smaller or larger amount of succulents, no matter their breed or phase of growth.
The EMMMSUN LED Grow Light takes the cake as a favorite grow light for succulents, since its flexible lights can accommodate most setups, and its timer function can help you to maintain an optimal lighting schedule with minimal effort.
Light, like water and fertilizer, is one of the most important nutrients for succulents. You’ll be grateful that you invested in a plant light when your succulents are thriving year-round in your home.
