When I started working in my youth, I had to have a closed office. It was a cube without a window, with air conditioning at full throttle and the usual white lights. Innocent and sweet, I took a cactus because "they are resistant plants" and watched it die. I resigned myself to not having plants, but I was always left with the question: can plants grow with artificial light? Is it possible to have plants in an enclosed space without natural light?
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The short answer is yes: yes, artificial light can help your plants grow, but not all types of light can serve this purpose. Light from halogen bulbs in an office will never be enough for a cactus to survive, but it can work for other species. Let's explain this process a bit, trying not to get too technical.
Plants
need sunlight to carry out the process of photosynthesis, with which they produce their own food. Sunlight has certain characteristics that influence the growth of the plant. Light is a form of electromagnetic radiation with its particular wavelength. There are many types of radiation of which human beings perceive only a small part because our eyes are not able to see it in its entirety.
This is why we see sunlight as white, but if we pass it through a prism we see that it has many separate colors. You can read a lot more about this topic in this article on chlorophyll, which explains a bit more about colors and wavelength.
Sunlight has the full spectrum of light, with all the colors of the rainbow, and while plants require all of them, there are two colors that are very important: blue and red, because green is what plants do not absorb.
- Blue is responsible for the growth that occurs at germination and after a flowering. If a plant receives only this type of light, it stays low and its color becomes darker.
- Red influences the elongation of the plant's stem and determines its flowering, as it indicates the length of the plants' days. Too much red will result in a very tall plant with more space between its leaves. If blue and red are combined, the flowering of the plant is stimulated.
artificially, you have to pay close attention to the type of bulb you use, as there are some that offer a more limited spectrum of light or that may not be suitable for the type of plant. Also, the light that comes from a simple household bulb will rarely be enough for a plant that has high luminous requirements, you would have to invest in a special lamp.
Under the Spotlight: Artificial Light and Plant Growth
There is a lot of artificial light for houseplants on the market. The purpose of these may be to compensate for the length of the days, for example in countries that due to their geographical location have a very marked change in the length of the day at certain times of the year, or to compensate for the complete absence of natural light. There are many types of bulbs, but unless you want to dedicate yourself to this in a professional way, you can use broad-spectrum lamps, which combine a cool and a warm LED. The advantage of these bulbs is that they offer a pretty decent spectrum, heat up little, and consume little electricity.
You have to be careful with the intensity of the artificial light, which is determined by the power of the bulb and how close it is to the plant. Be very careful about the type of lamp or bulb you are using and how close it is, because incandescent lamps tend to get very hot and can burn the leaves. For this reason, it is advisable to purchase fluorescent or LED lamps.
The intensity requirements will be given by the species of the plant. Houseplants from tropical forests don't require a lot of light, unlike those that come from dry places, such as cacti.
As a general reference: if your plant has flowers (such as violets, begonias and others) you can put it about 20 to 30 cm away from the lamp. If it is a foliage plant, such as an ivy or a philodendron, they can be 90 cm from the growth lamp. If you want to have a plant with lots of flowers and that bears fruit, it requires more intense light in order to maintain its growth and reproduction cycle.
What if I don't want to buy a special artificial light?
In case you don't want to invest in a special bulb for your plant, you can always look for a species that has minimal lighting requirements and is very happy with how little light it can receive from the fluorescent or LED bulbs in your office.
Within this group I can recommend you to buy a Sansevieria. These cute little plants are almost immortal, and while they like the sun, they can adapt to places with poor lighting. The Peace Lily is another adorable option, plus this plant traps spores and purifies the environment. Dracenas are hardy, norm-defying plants that can also grow well in dark environments. Another plant that can decorate your office are Zamioculcas or crow plants, which also prefer dimly lit environments.
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However, each space has its own characteristics. You can take your plant in and monitor it on a regular basis, to see if you need to make any changes to its position, watering, and lighting. Maybe it doesn't hurt to take it out from time to time to a place where it can get a few hours of sun.