Modern technology has made a range of grow lights readily available on the market. Fluorescent and LED grow lights are the two most popular types for succulents grown indoors.
Fluorescent grow lights, to start.
Since many years ago, fluorescent lighting has been used. They are available in various sizes and shapes. T5, T8, and T12 are the three that growers choose. Due to its exceptional performance, the T5 fluorescent growth light is the best choice out of the three.
However, you can switch to CFL (Compact Fluorescent Light) varieties if you don’t have enough room for the long tube. It comes in several tiny bulbs that fit into a single base with a round, flat bottom. If you only have a few succulents on your desk at home or at work, this is another excellent grow light option.
Since they frequently offer “full spectrum” lights that range from red to ultraviolet light, fluorescent lights are a favorite among gardeners. These lights are frequently referred to as “daylight,” “cool,” or “white/blue.”
Keep in mind that CFL bulbs can produce a lot of light and heat. You should place them farther from your plant than a typical fluorescent tube when using them.
The lights are pleasing to the eye and give succulents enough light to thrive in the winter.
2. a grow light made of LEDs (LED)
 
The LED grow lamp is effective in that it gives your plants particular light wave lengths. How does it perform on your cacti? Actually, succulents only care about blue and red light, exactly like many other plants. LED lighting is designed to provide succulents a very limited range of light, or really just one color. As a result, they use less energy than CFL bulbs while producing higher energy savings.
Does this imply that LED is superior to fluorescent lighting and more cost-effective? Yes, it is less expensive, but that does not automatically equate to better. When you give them a certain kind of light, they frequently behave differently. For instance, when exposed to specific red or blue light, your succulent can be urged to bloom rather than grow.  
The main disadvantage of LED lighting is that due to its low intensity, it is unable to give the UV light that succulents require in order to have a “sun-stress hue.” Consequently, your succulents will essentially only be green during the winter.
Additionally, compared to the “white light” produced by fluorescent lighting, the color of LED light may be uncomfortable to look at.
3. Metal halide and high-intensity discharge
The majority of home gardeners do not use this kind of grow light. Large-scale, commercial growth operations use it. Of course, it is the most expensive and capable of producing the strongest light and heat.
Can succulents endure LED lighting?
Your succulents will benefit greatly from LED grow lights. The light wavelengths that your succulents require to grow and thrive are precisely what they produce. Compared to fluorescent grow lights, they are more energy-efficient and operate more cheaply. They also last a lot longer without losing any light output. Choose LED grow lights if your comfort while viewing is not a priority.
The majority of LED grow lights only emit blue and red light. Strong, wholesome leaves, roots, and stems are produced as a result of the blue light’s promotion of the chlorophyll-development process. Your succulents will remain compact as long as there is blue light present. Red light encourages fruit and flower blooming. It won’t make your succulents bloom out of season, so don’t worry. However, it will improve their capacity to produce and sustain blooms in the spring and summer. The majority of LED grow lights feature more red than blue lights because they are frequently used for growing vegetables or orchids. You can change the output of this LED grow light to produce mostly blue light if you feel the need to do so.
The Lifetimetunnel 45W LED Grow Light Panel, which is an upgraded and better model than the ones I purchased five years ago, is the one pictured above. My succulents and I are satisfied with the outcomes after purchasing three fixtures. For three years, my husband operated these lights nonstop; after that, he did so for around six months each year. There is no light loss, and they continue to function perfectly. Each fixture includes a hanger kit, however depending on your setup, you might wish to extend it. A 15-month warranty is provided. It is currently available at a buy 2 get 1 free price!
Is it possible to use any LED light as a grow light?
Technically, you can use any LED light to grow plants, but this doesn’t guarantee that they’ll do so in a healthy or effective manner because ordinary LED lights don’t have the right amount of color or spectrum for photosynthesis.
Therefore, it is better to get specialized LED grow lights if you wish to grow inside in a greenhouse or grow tent.
We’ve examined if you can use regular light bulbs as grow lights in this brief post.
We’ll also delve into the issues and factors related to using both common LED lights and customized LED lights for plant growth.
Quick Tip: It’s time to experiment with LED light colors if your standard LED light is unable to nourish plants or cause a metabolic reaction.
What kind of lighting is most suitable for succulents?
Like other plants, succulents go between growing and dormant seasons. Although most succulents become dormant in the winter and consequently require less light, they still normally need as much light as they can obtain indoors.
When grown indoors, succulents won’t experience genuine dormancy until you force it with variations in temperature and light.
For a healthy growing cycle, all succulents require darkness every day, but they also require at least six hours of sunlight each day to be flourishing. I leave grow lights on for roughly 12 to 14 hours to simulate natural sunshine plus a few hours when caring for my indoor succulent plants.
Based on the season, you may use this post to determine which of your plants will require more or less water.
Succulents can they grow in artificial light?
I don’t have much experience growing succulents in cold temperatures and dark winters because I live in sunny Southern California. I’m fortunate enough to be able to leave my plants outside all year long without significant frost or low light harm. I am aware that many of you reside all over the world and are unsure of what to do with your plants now that you have brought them indoors for the winter. Perhaps despite the fact that you have your plants on window sills, they are still growing languidly, or perhaps the winters in your area are completely dark. Look nowhere else! I’m very happy to have indoor plant growing specialist Ben Thorton here with us today to share his knowledge about using grow lights to support the growth of your lovely garden regardless of the lighting situation!
Succulents have recently risen to the top of the list of preferred indoor plants because of how attractive they are, how they enhance the atmosphere of your home, and how little maintenance and water they need compared to other indoor plants. Many people are reluctant to grow succulents in regions with short summers because they are warm-weather and sun-loving plants. You might be shocked to learn that even if you live in a climate with distinct seasons and chilly, gloomy winter months, you can still grow succulents all year round. Once the weather becomes cooler, just move the succulents inside and provide the artificial lighting they require. Here is a simple tutorial on growing succulents indoors and under artificial lights if you are unsure about using grow lights or worried that you might harm your plants by using them.
Artificial lighting can be categorized as either lighting used in addition to natural lighting or lighting utilized to perfectly mimic sunlight in situations where none actually exists. Since vitamin D, one of the most important vitamins in the human body, is obtained from sunlight, artificial light cannot replace it for humans. In contrast to other living things, plants just require the light itself from the sun. Photosynthesis is a process that takes place when plants are exposed to light and provides them with the energy they require to grow. Succulents can be grown indoors under artificial light just as well as outdoors in natural sunshine, provided that the right amount of light is provided. To successfully grow your succulents in your house, you will need to select the best lights and understand a few basic lighting techniques.
There are a few considerations to keep in mind when selecting artificial lighting for an indoor garden. And they are as follows:
How strong and bright is the light produced by the grow lights?
The brightness of the light produced by grow lights is the most important factor to consider because it will affect how much light the plants receive and how well they can grow. You need lights for succulents that produce at least 2,000 lumens per square foot of illumination. 10,000 lumens per square foot are produced by noontime direct sunlight, but if you run 2,000 or more lumen lamps for 14 or more hours a day, the plants will receive almost the same amount of light as they would in the height of summer.
What is the light’s wattage?
Another item to consider is the wattage of the grow lights you buy, as this will have an impact on your electricity bill. You pay more for electricity the more watts a light uses, therefore you don’t want to choose a light that is brilliant but uses a lot of watts because that will be very expensive. To get the best of both worlds—bright light for your plants and minimal electricity consumption for you—look for lights that are marked as energy efficient. These lights will likely have a high lumen count and low wattage, giving you the best of both worlds.
What color temperature range does the light produced by grow lights fall into?
Because succulents love the sun and prefer bright light to shadow, they also need a particular light with regard to the color temperature of the light. The visible color that the grow lights emit is essentially their color temperature. Kelvins are used to measure this. To provide the light that plants require to thrive, light must fall within a certain range of color temperatures. Starting at roughly 5,000 Kelvins, the ideal color temperature for succulents will provide your succulents cool, full-spectrum light that closely resembles sunlight.
How much heat is emitted by the light?
Finally, it is crucial to understand how much heat the grow lights emit. If they produce a lot of heat, you can experience a problem with the temperature in the space where you grow your succulents, which would require you to invest extra money in a reliable ventilation or cooling system. Additionally, if lights produce a lot of heat, you will need to situate your plants farther away from the lights in order to prevent them from burning them. Your plants may not receive enough light as a result. Some typical grow lights are known to emit a lot of heat, while others remain cool to the touch even after being on for 24 hours. Make sure a grow light doesn’t produce too much heat before you buy one.
I would advise you to purchase T5 grow lights since they have all the qualities of a good grow light and I have experience working with many various types of grow lights. Their diameter is 5 eights of an inch. T5 grow lights are available in a variety of configurations, including two different lengths (2 ft and 4 ft bulbs), numerous different bulb counts (from 1 to 12 bulbs in one fixture), various efficiency types (Normal Output (NO), High Output (HO), and Very High Output (VHO), and various color temperature varieties (from only 2,900 Kelvins up to 10,000 Kelvins). I typically use high output (HO) bulbs because a 2 foot HO T5 bulb uses just 24 watts and produces 2,000 lumens, compared to a 4 foot long high output (HO) T5 bulb that uses 54 watts and produces 5,000 lumens. You obtain incredibly effective light that is ideal for succulents if you mix one or the other length bulbs in a group of two or more bulbs and choose bulbs that are in the color temperature of 6,500 Kelvins.
Although choosing the correct artificial light is an important aspect of effectively growing your plants in an indoor garden, there are a few other factors you should be aware of in order to do even better.
Be aware of the height at which you should hang your plant canopy’ grow lights.
Knowing how high to hang your grow lights is essential since it affects how much light the plants receive. You must hang grow lights so that they may provide the maximum amount of light to the plants without overheating them by radiating heat, regardless of whether you select T5 fixtures or select other grow lights. In order to reduce the risk of your grow lights burning and harming your plants, I would first advise placing any grow light at least 6 to 8 inches away from the tops of your succulents. You can later move your lighting fixtures closer to the succulents if you discover that they don’t emit heat and are cold to the touch (like T5 grow lights).
Determine the light cycle
Because there won’t be a sun to determine when plants receive light, you must determine the plants’ light cycle while growing plants indoors under grow lights. Knowing your light cycles will help you grow your succulents more quickly. Indoor gardens use light cycles to replicate day and night circumstances. Succulents will also develop more quickly if you give them more light, which is a common rule of thumb for growing any plants under lights. If you’re overwintering the plants, I’d recommend starting with a 20/4 light cycle for the succulents. This means leaving the lights on for 20 hours a day, turning them off for 4 hours, and then gradually extending the darkness time until the light cycle is 16/8 (light/dark). Succulents require knowledge of the winter solstice so they can begin their dormant period. If you use grow lights all year for your succulents, you may set the light cycle to 24/0 or 20/4 in the summer to help them develop swiftly and flourish.
Learn how frequently to water your succulents.
Finally, it should be noted that watering is equally crucial because both inadequate and excessive watering might harm your plants. Even if you’re using grow lights to simulate summer, you still need to water the succulents during the summer by watering them once the soil is dry. Even if succulents are cultivated indoors, things change over the winter. Succulents use substantially less water while they are dormant throughout the winter or an imitation of winter since they are either growing very slowly or not at all. So, how frequently should you water succulents in the winter? In general, I’d advise watering them every two weeks, but if the room is hot, you’ll need to water them more frequently because the heat will cause them to dry out more quickly. Looking at the soil in which succulents are growing will tell you how frequently they need watering during the winter. Allow the soil to dry up completely before giving succulents approximately a week to absorb the water before you water them again to prevent overwatering.
January 2017 addition: