grow lights for lithops?

[trashcanteoh]

Ive been keeping lithops outdoors for the longest time ever and have lost many due to storms and the occasional rain. Im planning to bring them indoors but i have no windows that provide enough light for them. This made me think of buying a grow light for them but sadly i have no experience in handling grow lights at all. And thus is why i am here. Any grow light or spec recommendations would be awesome so i know what im buying and if what im buying meets the requirements of the plant specified.

[greenknight]

I had good success using LED lights to supplement weak window light. The advantage of LEDs is that they don't radiate heat (unless they're specially designed to) so there's no danger of cooking your Lithops.

[trashcanteoh]

I had good success using LED lights to supplement weak window light. The advantage of LEDs is that they don't radiate heat (unless they're specially designed to) so there's no danger of cooking your Lithops.

awesome!. what type of led lights should i get? and at what power.

[greenknight]

You don't need special grow lights, warm white LEDs (around 3000K color temperature) work great. How much power depends on how big of an area you need to cover, and how much natural light you have there. Best to use spot lights, I think, so the light all goes on your plants instead of going everywhere.

I did get a red/blue grow light, a 10w spot for one standard growing tray - but it was just for starting seedlings, not for display. I wanted to use as little power as possible because our wiring is old and weak, not any capacity to spare. The red/blue lights are very efficient, but white lights are really better for the plants. I would use more wattage with white LEDs. Also, I had about half as much light as needed from natural light already.

Here's a video that shows an experiment with growing tomato plants under white LEDs vs the red/blue ones - they grew well under either, but the ones under the white lights were sturdier plants: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HawgP5SXPko

[trashcanteoh]

You don't need special grow lights, warm white LEDs (around 3000K color temperature) work great. How much power depends on how big of an area you need to cover, and how much natural light you have there. Best to use spot lights, I think, so the light all goes on your plants instead of going everywhere.

I did get a red/blue grow light, a 10w spot for one standard growing tray - but it was just for starting seedlings, not for display. I wanted to use as little power as possible because our wiring is old and weak, not any capacity to spare. The red/blue lights are very efficient, but white lights are really better for the plants. I would use more wattage with white LEDs. Also, I had about half as much light as needed from natural light already.

Here's a video that shows an experiment with growing tomato plants under white LEDs vs the red/blue ones - they grew well under either, but the ones under the white lights were sturdier plants: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HawgP5SXPko

Thank you so much !!!!!!!! this is so helpfull, especially with that video.thank you once again.

[vitt13]

I agree, white LEDs are best choice. I had an experience on growing lithopses under red-blue LEDs and I use now warm white LEDs and few red-blue LEDs not only for lithopses but for other succulents and cacti that may need additional light.
More info about LED lights I post here https://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewto ... 15#p364036 and here https://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewto ... 15#p363621

[trashcanteoh]

I agree, white LEDs are best choice. I had an experience on growing lithopses under red-blue LEDs and I use now warm white LEDs and few red-blue LEDs not only for lithopses but for other succulents and cacti that may need additional light.
More info about LED lights I post here https://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewto ... 15#p364036 and here https://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewto ... 15#p363621

thank you so much for this, It helps me a bunch. i appreciate it