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View Full Version : Indoor lighting for plant when it gets to be 10+ feet tall?


Viper1436
05-28-2013, 11:52 AM
When my plants grow big and I move them indoors for the winter what kind of grow light can I use for them when they are 10+ feet tall? I have 20ft ceilings in my living room but the windows face East, so they wont get a lot of sun. How big a light or what kind would you recommend?

LilRaverBoi
05-29-2013, 08:31 PM
Depends on how crazy you want to go (and how much money you're willing to spend). If you want legitimate lighting, get a metal halide fixture, 400W+. Otherwise, you can get a double 48" fluorescent light fixture and some plant bulbs and call it a day.

Abnshrek
05-29-2013, 08:33 PM
You could get an LED grow lamp too.. :^)

scottu
05-29-2013, 08:52 PM
Led with a 20 foot ceiling?

Abnshrek
05-29-2013, 09:14 PM
Put in a couple sky lights.. :^)

sunfish
05-29-2013, 09:25 PM
Put in a couple sky lights.. :^)

or sky hooks

Viper1436
05-30-2013, 01:49 PM
Thanks for the suggestions. I forgot to mention the 20ft ceiling is slanted, so that's going to be challenging but I think I can do it.

sman87
06-01-2013, 03:53 PM
Yeah you are going to want some much heavier duty grow lights for a plant that size growing during the winter. I had a 48" 4 tube high output fluorescent grow lamp rated @ 16,000k lum and it was BARELY enough to keep 4 or 5 basjoo growing past 2 feet tall! With my experience last year growing indoors, the larger the plant is the more demanding its light requirement will be. I hear fluorescents don't have the penetrating power that metal halide lights do so light intensity quickly diminishes the further you are from it, making it difficult for lower leaves to gather energy. If money isn't that much of an issue you might want to look into growing your plant inside a grow tent. The tents are specially designed with Mylar insulate that reflects as much light as possible off the inside walls and keeps heat and humidity consistently high. This plays just as crucial of a role keeping your banana plant green and healthy looking as your lighting does. Keep in mind also that you may not see any great significant growth throughout the winter season indoors. You quite possibly may only see 2 or 3 feet of new growth added on since artificial conditions are far from ideal. I know some of the veteran members on here told me a rule of thumb is to focus on keeping it ALIVE rather than keeping it beautiful and they were def right about that lol good luck tho and hopefully you get good gains!

Viper1436
06-01-2013, 06:09 PM
Oh yea, keeping it alive during the winter is all I'm aiming for.